The United Nations World Food Program says it will soon open new routes to famine-stricken parts of Somalia where the presence of militants has made it hard to reach starving people.

Executive Director Josette Sheeran said Thursday that the WFP is preparing to open new land and air routes into what she called the “core of the famine zone.”

Sheeran, speaking from Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, said the agency aims to establish operating conditions that will ensure safe conditions for aid workers in the region.

The U.N. this week declared a famine in southern Somalia's Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions, both strongholds of the al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab recently lifted a ban on foreign aid agencies. But relief groups say personnel must still keep a low profile to avoid being targeted by the militants, whose members sometimes demand payments and seize deliveries.

The United Nations says nearly half of Somalia's population – 3.7 million people – is in crisis.

The world body estimates that tens of thousands of Somalis have already died of malnutrition. And it warns a rapid increase in aid is needed to prevent the widespread loss of life.

Overall, the Horn of Africa is experiencing the worst drought in six decades. The U.N. has said more than 11 million people are in need of food aid.