3.5 million people face starvation

NAIROBI, Kenya, March 5 (UPI) -- The United Nations says 3.5 million people face the threat of starvation in Kenya if immediate food aid is not delivered.

James Morris, head of the U.N. World Food Program, said five years of drought have created the worst situation in the region for four decades, the BBC reported.

"The world has not appreciated in the last 60 days how serious this situation is ... we are now in a crisis," he said. "We are in a life-saving mode."

Morris said a donation shortfall of $189 million must be met soon.

"These people now have nothing," he said. "They will have to be provided with food."

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has declared the drought has been declared a national disaster.