MOGADISHU, Somalia, May 17 (UPI) -- Villagers in Somalia say spiking food costs, coupled with a drought that is killing vital livestock, are producing a famine that has killed hundreds so far.

Cattle are lying dead in the sand and prices for commodities are out of control, poverty-stricken Somalis told The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reported Saturday. The combination of civil war, a refugee crisis and foreign aid jeopardized by the fighting means the humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa is becoming desperate, the newspaper reported.

The only thing standing between many Somalis and starvation is "a thin gruel made from mashed thorn-tree branches," the newspaper reported, adding that villagers have reported children chewing on their own lips and tongues because they had no food.

The United Nations said in a news release that at least 2.6 million Somalis -- more than one-third of the country's population -- need assistance. That represents a 40 percent increase since January.

The U.N. added that 600,000 more people in urban areas "either do not have enough food to sustain their households, or have been forced to sell assets to buy food, leaving them vulnerable to further deterioration."