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Rome — Nearly 40 countries, most of them in Africa, are facing serious food problems, a UN agency said Friday.

Twenty-five of the 39 countries facing food shortages are in Africa, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said in its November issue of "Foodcrops and Shortages," which is published five times a year.

Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Eritrea are particularly affected, the agency said.

Southern Africa has suffered two consecutive bad harvests, and Zimbabwe's economic and political problems have worsened the situation in that country.

"Food assistance to the neediest is inadequate and slow in coming, while commercial imports are hampered by the worsening economic crisis," the report said.

Acute shortages of corn, the staple food for Zimbabwe's 12.5 million people, have been attributed to drought and the government's chaotic program to seize thousands of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to blacks.

Economic turmoil over the past two years has left more than 60 per cent of Zimbabwe's population jobless. Tens of thousands of black farm workers have lost their livelihood in farm seizures.

On Thursday, the UN World Food Program said 6.7 million Zimbabweans could need food aid, and the WFP's resources fall far short of meeting that need.

In Mozambique, almost 600,000 people need food aid because their crops were wiped out by drought, Agriculture Minister Helder Muteia said Friday. He said 84,000 hectares of land that normally yielded crops had produced nothing this year.

Massive flooding during the past two years that wiped out large swaths of cropland has compounded Mozambique's food shortage.

The government was trying to address the problem by distributing seed and agricultural implements and rebuilding damaged irrigation systems, but Mozambique still desperately needed more aid, Muteia said.

In East Africa, drought also has caused serious shortages. Ethiopia has asked for food aid for about 6 million people, while neighbouring Eritrea has asked for aid for about 1.4 million people.

In Asia, North Korea was among the hardest-hit countries.

"Donor pledges are urgently needed to cover the WFP emergency operation for the remainder of 2002 and the first quarter of 2003," the Rome-based agency said.

Afghanistan has enjoyed a recovery in agricultural production, but the return of refugees could lead to a funding shortage, it said.

The supply of food in the West Bank and Gaza Strip also is suffering from curfews and military operations, the report said.