Thousands of Somali refugees are crossing into Kenya in a desperate attempt to escape starvation.
At Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya, families are erecting makeshift shelters to protect them from the elements.
Dhuubo Nur, who recently arrived at the camp, was so weak that she was struggling to walk in the face of the relentless wind.
"We came from a very long torturous journey," she said.
Tens of thousands of Somalis have watched their land dry up after years without rain.
Their livestock has died or deserted them and now they have simply run out of food.
Now they are making the perilous journey over parched earth to refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, regions that also have been hit hard by drought.
The UN expects at least 10 million people will need food aid, and a US aid official said he believes the situation in Ethiopia is even worse than the government acknowledges.
"Ethiopia with several other countries in east Africa is experiencing a devastating drought. As of June, an estimated 3.2 million people were receiving food assistance throughout Ethiopia, an increase in 400-thousand from February to April this year," Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos told the UN in New York on Monday.
The Ethiopian government announced on Monday that 4.5 million people need food aid there, 40 percent more than last year.
Representatives of USAID in Ethiopia, the US government aid arm, suggested that Ethiopia might even be underestimating those who need help.
Aid agencies are appealing for more than 100 million US dollars in emergency funding while warning of dire consequences if help does not arrive.
"The biggest concern is that right now people are dying because of the drought, particularly those who are having to leave their land and their homes and walk long distances in a weakened condition to try to find food and water," said UN Development Programme Administrator Helen Clark.
"So this is a life and death issue for many families right now," the former New Zealand prime minister added.
Dadaab was originally built for 90,000 people; more than 382,000 are living there now.
The UN has called on the Kenyan government to allow refugees to populate another nearby facility to alleviate the overcrowding.
But Kenya turned down the request, fearing a new camp would encourage an even greater influx of refugees into the country.
"We could use that camp to take away some of the overcrowded in Dadaab, but also help to deal with the numbers of Somali refugees that are crossing the border on almost a daily basis," Amos said. "So I am disappointed that the government has turned down the request."
Hundreds of people with dust covered faces gather every day at registration centres in Dadaab's three sprawling camps.
Most of those arriving in Dadaab are former subsistence farmers.
Yusuf Mohamed, pushing his sick mother in a wheelbarrow, was waiting outside Dagahaley camp.
Like so many others, his lands were rendered idle and animals decimated after successive seasons of no rain hit the already war-ravaged country.
"Now we are looking for food and peace," he said.
Donations to the appeal can be made on Oxfam's website or by calling 0800 400 666.
3 News / APTN