The World Food Program says a drought in Afghanistan will force millions more people to seek food aid later this year, further straining the U.N. agency's efforts to feed the impoverished nation.

The WFP's deputy director for Afghanistan, Bradley Guerrant, says a poor wheat harvest caused by a lack of rain will lead to food shortages for another two to three million people from September. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday in Geneva, he said the drought has ruined crops in northern and central Afghanistan.

Afghan officials estimate this year's wheat harvest will be 28 percent lower than 2010. Guerrant says Afghan government reserves and private sector imports will make up some of the shortfall, but he expects the country will need help in securing another 300,000 tons of wheat.

Guerrant says seven million Afghans already need regular food aid from abroad, but the WFP is struggling to meet that demand because of budget cuts in major donor nations such as the United States. He says the agency's Afghan program has received $110 million from the U.S. government this year, compared with $365 million in 2009.