Oxfam warns of 'desperate' food price crisis in east Africa

London - Britain's leading aid charity Oxfam has warned that 13 million people in East Africa are at risk of hunger and destitution as food prices spiral out of control. A situation already marked by droughts, war and poverty was made worse by rising food prices which had increased by 350 per cent in some regions between 2007 and 2008, Oxfam said in a report issued in London Thursday. Oxfam joined calls on donors from other international aid groups to increase aid levels to Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. Its call followed a warning from the UN World Food Programme which said that more than 14 million people in the Horn of Africa needed food aid because of drought and rising food and fuel prices. Oxfam's Rob McNeil, who has toured Somalia and the Afar region of Ethiopia, said the cost of food had escalated by up to 500 per cent... [read full story]