Poor rains and high crop prices have left more than 18 million people with serious food shortages in 10 African countries, a food security monitoring group said. Diminishing water supplies and dry pastures also were fueling conflict among rival tribes, and child malnutrition was reportedly rising in parts the Greater Horn of Africa region, the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network said in a report released late Tuesday. The food shortages were concentrated in Ethiopia, where more than half of the 18 million affected people lived, the report said. At least half of neighboring Eritrea's population of 4.5 million was in peril, as well as 2.69 million in Uganda, the report said. Other countries affected included Sudan, Djibouti, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi and Somalia, The Associated Press quoted the report as saying.
