The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Friday warned that immediate action is needed to save the lives and livelihoods of millions of farmers and pastoralists across the drought-struck Horn of Africa. The warning came as the United Nations declared on Wednesday that famine has spread to three more areas of southern Somalia and threatened to engulf the whole of the country's south.

"All other regions of southern Somalia are in the grip of a humanitarian emergency which has caused thousands of deaths," FAO said in a statement.

It said the emergency is part of a wider drought and conflict- induced crisis in the Horn of Africa that threatens the lives and livelihoods of some 12.4 million people in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya and millions more in neighboring countries.

FAO's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia (FSNAU) and USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) announced in Nairobi this week that famine has struck three new areas of southern Somalia, namely Balcad and Cadale districts of Middle Shabelle, the Afgoye corridor IDP settlement and the Mogadishu IDP community.

South Somalia's three new famine areas join the Bakool zone and the Lower Shabelle region, which were declared famine-struck on July 20. Famine indicators include death rates exceeding two deaths per 10, 000 people per day and acute malnutrition rates in excess of 30 percent.

Famine is expected to spread across all regions of the south in the coming four to six weeks and is likely to persist until at least December. Continued efforts to implement an immediate, large-scale, and comprehensive response are needed, FAO said.

In Somalia, 3.7 million people are in crisis, with 3.2 million people in need of immediate, life-saving assistance (2.8 million in the south). FAO said it is seeking funds to protect the most vulnerable households in Somalia with a mix of interventions designed to save lives and livelihoods in the short-term and build food security over the longer haul.

"Short-term measures include seeds, inputs and tools distributions for the October Deyr planting season, support to animal health through provision of drugs, vaccines and training, and food-for-work programmes and cash transfers," FAO said.

FAO noted that it has been working effectively in the areas most affected by the current crisis, including Somalia where other organizations and agencies have faced severe restrictions in access.

The crisis in the Horn of Africa is the most severe food security emergency in the world today. Thousands of people have died since its onset, following a complete failure of seasonal rainfall in October-December 2010.

The situation has been exacerbated by protracted conflicts that over time have forced millions of people to flee their homes, abandon land, livestock and other productive assets.

In the Dadaab complex of refugee camps in Kenya where the population has swelled to nearly 380,000 in recent months, including 40,000 arrivals from Somalia last month alone, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that mass screening for malnutrition conducted in two of the camps in July revealed alarmingly high rates of acute malnutrition. The agency has transferred more than 10,500 recent Somali arrivals to Dadaab's Ifo camp extension in an ongoing relocation operation. UNHCR has airlifted thousands of tents to Kenya to accommodate the refugee population, but an additional 45,000 tents are still needed as the influx continues. The agency also voiced concern that Dadaab's water resources could soon be overstretched.