The United Nations is warning as many as 10 million people are facing severe food shortages in East Africa as the region suffers its worst drought in 60 years.

Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are among the countries hardest hit in a crisis that is deepening by the day.

Many people are being pushed to the breaking point.

"We are not just dealing with a drought or a food crisis- food prices have gone up and conflict takes a long long time to resolve as we are seeing in Somalia," said Valerie Amos, U.N. Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs.

Many Somalis have fled their parched farms and are living in bombed out parts of the capital Mogadishu rather than face starvation in the countryside.

Somalia has faced years of civil war between the country's makeshift government and Islamist fighters.

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab insurgents, who once expelled foreign aid workers from areas under their control, are now appealing for them to come back into the region.

As many as 10 million people are at risk.

"This is a situation that requires long-term dogged purpose to it and we have to make sure that continues and that can be quite hard because you are dealing with a number of countries, different communities, different government, different UN agencies," Amos said.

The U.N. said thousands of Somalis are crossing borders and many end up in the largest refugee camp in the world, Dadaab, in Kenya.

It's already stretched to the limit.

It was intended for 90,000 people but the U.N. said there are now more than 380,000.

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