Uganda:Aid agencies combating some of the worst floods to hit central Africa for decades are warning of an escalating crisis affecting more than 1.5 million people.
The World Food Programme (WFP) yesterday issued a special appeal for Uganda, where the government has declared a national emergency.
At least a dozen other countries have been severely affected - from Ghana in the west to Kenya in the east.
Up to 300 people have drowned, and thousands are said to be at risk of starvation after torrential rains washed away crops on the eve of harvesting.
Peter Smerdon, a spokesman for the WFP's east African operations, said international donors had been slow to help due to a high number of existing aid commitments in places like DR Congo, Somalia and Sudan.
"Some donors have come forward but not as many as we would have hoped. We need the funds now. A response in a few months from now is no good because the damage from the floods will be done."
He noted the UN agency had been forced to move one of its helicopters from Darfur, where it had been involved in relief efforts for war refugees, to northern Uganda to provide emergency assistance.
He added that two further helicopters were needed for the Ugandan operation, which was targeting up to 300,000 displaced people.
Many of those affected in the area are former refugees who recently returned to their land having been displaced by a long-running internal conflict between the government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army.
"Uganda has been a particularly hard sell with donors at the moment," Mr Smerdon said. "Even before the floods we were looking at whose rations we were going to cut." He added: "These floods came exactly at the wrong time. People had just planted crops and were getting ready to harvest them.
"As a result, they won't have anything to eat until the next harvest - and that is only if they are lucky enough to have enough money to buy seeds."
Uganda alone is said to need €15 million in emergency food aid, and €3.5 million to repair roads and bridges damaged in the floods.
Forecasters say the rain may continue well into next month, prompting the Red Cross to step up its appeal for funds.
"It is evident from the scope of the disaster that a massive aid effort will be needed to help hundreds of thousands of flood victims survive the crisis and rebuild their lives," said Niels Scott, Red Cross operations co-ordinator for Africa.
In a statement yesterday, the agency said cases of severe malaria had been reported in Uganda, and outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as cholera were feared. It added that infant mortality in parts of the affected region were already high, with one-third of children under five in Togo's Savane district reportedly suffering from malnutrition before the floods began.
A number of other aid agencies are still assessing the flood damage. Among them is Oxfam, whose spokeswoman for central Africa, Beatrice Karanja, said the crisis highlighted the need for "better disaster preparedness mechanisms" in the aid community.