UN alarm on famine in 26 African lands
| Rome
Twenty-six African nations are undergoing severe food shortages and need extra aid of 550,000 metric tons of food costing $125 million over the next three months, top UN food aid officials said. The countries' food aid needs for 1980 and 1981 have almost doubled, compared with 1978-79, they added. The shortages, caused by droughts, wars, and neglect of agriculture, will be discussed at an emergency meeting convened here Friday to which 35 possible donor nations have been invited.
About half the extra aid is needed for Ethiopia and Somalia, scenes of drought, fighting, and civil disorders.
