UN: "Mozambique in food crisis warning"

The UN has warned it is running out of funds to help the 350,000 people in Mozambique in need of food aid.

7 of the country's 11 provinces face an acute problem because of 

poor harvests.

Central and southern regions have had 

less than half their normal rainfall since last October.

Now heavy downpours this week have caused flooding, killed 25 people and left thousands of others homeless.

The BBC's Jose Tembe in the capital, Maputo, says crops from central Sofala province are also under threat from locusts which have invaded the area in the last few days, worsening the impact of torrential rains.

The situation is quite dire for a quarter of a million people who lost crops & homes last year in the floods.

 Authorities fear that flooding could devastate the region by March, the peak of the rainy season.

 $8.5m is needed to purchase food aid locally for the destitute.

The money is needed to buy nearly 11,000 tons of cereals, beans & cooking oil to supplement household reserves & help families cope with high food prices.

"At the moment our food supply is going to break as soon as February."

Convincing donors to give aid was hard given on-going crises like that in neighbouring Zimbabwe, he said.

"But it makes us have to speak a bit louder about our circumstances 

because it is not so obvious to donors & the rest of the world that in fact there is still a relief need in Mozambique."