As for those left in Somalia, there are now roughly four hundred and fifty thousand people living in five famine zones in Somalia.

Somalia, where six regions have been declared to be famine zones, is the worst-hit country.

Parts of the capital hosting large numbers of people who fled hunger in the countryside were declared famine zones last week.

The al-Shabab rebel group, which controls most of the south, including the main famine zones, has refused to lift the bans it has imposed on several humanitarian agencies over the past two years.

But this partnership fell apart in Bardera this week, Dr. Musa said, and it is fragile in other parts of Somalia's famine zone.

The Duke and Duchess were given a first-hand account of the worsening crisis in East Africa by the Crown Princess of Denmark, who has just returned from the famine zone.

The UN says 640,000 children are acutely malnourished in Somalia, where the UN has declared five famine zones, including the refugee camps of Mogadishu.

General Aidid said he planned military action against a rival clan this weekend at Bardera, one of the worst hit towns in the famine zone.

Mr Mugabe - a communist socialist dictator - has managed to turn this bread basket into a famine zone.

Some of the babies seem as malnourished as if they lived in a famine zone.