Geneva - A World Food Programme (WFP) appeal issued last month for 140 million dollars to help feed a growing portion of Zimbabwe's population has gone completely unfunded, a UN spokesperson said Tuesday.

"So far we have received none of the funding, zero," said WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella .

The appeal was to help feed the growing number of people in the southern African nation who require handouts. The WFP said it raised its caseload in the country from 2 million to 4 million people in recent weeks.

By the beginning of next year some 5.1 million people, or 45 per cent of the population, are expected to require food assistance.

A poor harvest has further complicated Zimbabwe's already existing food crisis, the UN said in its appeal.

Already, the WFP said, it had to cut back on the amounts delivered to each needy family so that it could reach more of the growing number of destitute people.

"We need the funding urgently," Casella stressed.

According to the UN, many people in Zimbabwe live on one meal a day or less and struggle to find food. Over a quarter of all children under five were deemed chronically malnourished. (dpa)