Geneva  - The Ethiopian government and humanitarian aid agencies issued an appeal for 325.2 million dollars Friday to try to prevent starvation.

Drought and crop failure had seen the number of people in need of assistance rise from 2.2 million to 4.6 million, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) said in a statement issued in Geneva.

Around 268 million dollars was to be used to supply food.

An estimated 75,000 children were already suffering from acute malnutrition said OCHA and there was an "urgent need to respond to this crisis to avert loss of life."

The worst affected areas were the south and south-eastern parts of Ethiopia.

Poor rains had hit harvests and the health of cattle, with some deaths reported in Oramiya.

The supply of food in markets had also fallen off sharply regionally and internationally due to the global food crisis while price hikes had reduced the buying power of households. (dpa)