El Nino-induced drought affects 1.4 million people in Angola

El Nino-induced drought is affecting 1.4 million people in across seven of Angola's 18 provinces, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said here Friday.

"Food insecurity is expected to worsen from July to the end of the year due to meagre crop yields and La Nina-related floods," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here, citing the UN Resident Coordinator's Office in Angola.

To strengthen the humanitarian response, a UN drought emergency team has been established, he said, adding that food prices have already skyrocketed reducing the population's purchasing power by an estimated 40 percent.

Severe acute malnutrition rates have doubled in the country compared to data for the first half of 2015, with more than 95,000 children affected, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Angola is one of the countries in eastern and southern Africa which face hunger, disease and water shortage due to this year's unusually extreme El Nino season.