Ethiopia has appealed for 1.5 million tonnes of aid to feed more than 11 million people it said will face food shortages next year because of severe drought.
The appeal followed a warning by a UN agency yesterday that the drought might worsen and match the 1984 crisis in which up to a million people died unless help arrives urgently.
"Millions of households have failed to obtain meaningful crop production, forcing them to seek relief assistance as of now," Mr Simon Mechale, the head of the government's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission, told the start of a two-day donor conference in the Ethiopian capital.
Mr Mechale said Ethiopia would need food assistance for 11.3 million people next year, adding that a further 2.9 million people were also on the margin of severe food shortages and may also need assistance.
Ethiopia also appealed for $64.6 million worth of assistance in the form of items such as seeds, livestock drugs and cattle feed to battle the impact of the drought.
Aid groups say up to 14 million people could face serious food shortages in Ethiopia following the failure of rains this year.