More than 1 million dollars is urgently needed to feed 53,000 people in Djibouti who are threatened with starvation, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) said Tuesday. “Malnutrition among children younger than five is in fact a silent emergency in Djibouti, but we don't have the funds to continue providing food for the most vulnerable,” said WFP country director Benoit Thiry. Acute malnutrition in the country rose to 20.4 percent, according to preliminary WFP statistics. Over the past five years, Djibouti suffered under a series of draughts, including in 2006, when rains failed completely, the organization said. The 1 million dollars will continue food rations through May, right before the start of the dry season, when food shortages was most severe. An additional 6 million is needed to secure food operations until December 2007, WFP officials said. The 53,000 people include 47,000 farmers caught in a drought, and 6,000 Somali refugees. In the past, Saudi Arabia has been a generous WFP donor to the Muslim country, giving $500,000 since 2005.
