Severe drought has helped put six million people on the brink of starvation in the Horn of Africa, the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said on January 6th.

About two million Somalis need urgent help to stave off starvation as crops have failed and livestock herds have been depleted, Reuters reports.

Another 1.5 million people are affected in south-eastern Ethiopia, where the FAO said conditions were "very serious". Neighbouring Djibouti has also been hit and millions of Kenyans will be reliant on food aid this year.

Seasonal rains have been scarce in Somalia's southern regions, leading the FAO to expect that the crop that is about to be harvested could be the lowest in a decade.

"Pastoral communities are facing acute food and livelihood crises due to severe drought," the FAO said.

Ethiopia has also reported food shortages from the eastern and southern pastoral regions. The FAO said that the onset of the dry season, which runs from January to March, is expected to worsen the situation.

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