WFP head: high probability of Horn of Africa famine

The chief of the World Food Programme said there was a "high probability" that famine may be declared for some communities in the Horn of Africa. The WFP says 22 million people are hungry. Already, thousands of people have died.

The United States is stepping up to buy about 150,000 metric tons of grain from Ukraine in the next few weeks, the WFP chief said.

The final destinations for the grain are not confirmed and discussions continue, he added, but the shipment, one of several the U.N. agency that fights hunger is pursuing, is more than six times the amount of the first WFP-arranged ship from Ukraine that is now carrying grain toward people in the Horn of Africa at risk of starvation.

Despite grain leaving Ukraine and hopes rising of global markets beginning to stabilize, the world's most vulnerable people face a long, difficult recovery, the WFP chief said.