A United Nations official says Somalia is facing a food crisis because of a drought and rising food prices.

The U.N. humanitarian cordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden said Wednesday,the situation is “rapidly deterorirating” and that many lives may be lost to malnutrition without an adequate response.

Bowden says the cost of food has jumped 270 percent over last year's prices because of drought across the Horn of Africa.

He says Somalia has received about 40 percent of the international help it has requested.

The head of the U.N. World Food Program says the agency been scaling back programs in Somalia and Ethiopia because of dwindling resources.

Josette Sheeran says some 10 million people are facing severe food shortages as a result of the lagging drought in the Horn of Africa.