Recurrent droughts, in addition to rising food and kerosene prices, have exacerbated food insecurity in the Horn of Africa country of Djibouti, according to a senior UN official.

The country has a high population of nomadic pastoralists. Food insecurity had, however, forced the nomadic people to cut the number of meals they ate per day and reduced the quality of the food. Successive droughts had also increased migration from rural to urban areas as the population moved in search of jobs. As a result, unemployment in Djibouti City stood at 60 percent, according to a July report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net).

"Rising food prices are having a double impact of not only reducing food security but also the ability of families to assist each other," Marcus Prior, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman for East and Central Africa said. Most of the rural population relies on remittances from relatives in urban centers.

"The rising cost of living is undermining food security more than usual, particularly for poor households whose monthly income is far below the cost of the minimum expenditure basket," stated the FEWS Net report. Kerosene prices had also gone up by 50 percent compared with the five-year average.

Djibouti imports most of its food requirements. In addition to increased obstacles to food access, Djibouti City was facing critical water shortages, with rationing being initiated by the government.

"In the worst case, a total of 341,000 people [54 percent of the population] are expected to need emergency food and water supplies by August," stated the FEWS Net report. At least 55,000 people are in urgent need of food assistance in Djibouti City, according to FEWS Net. WFP needed US$18 million for operations in Djibouti until March 2009, Prior said. "We urgently need assistance from the international community to provide the support vitally needed by the population."