The UN has estimated that the number of Kenyans who will need food aid because of drought will rise to 3.5m by September.

More than 11m people are going hungry in an area that covers parts of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

'The most affected districts are in northern and northeastern Kenya, where food insecurity is expected to reach crisis levels in August and September,' said Aeneas Chuma, the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for Kenya.

Kenya declared the drought a national disaster in late May, while the UN has categorised the situation in east Africa's largest economy as an emergency, one level short of a famine.

The UN World Food Programme said it was at present giving aid to 1.7m people needing help, while the government is targeting another 800,000.

Meanwhile, the first consignment of Irish government aid is due to arrive in Somalia later today.

The airlift of 38 tonnes of emergency supplies will arrive in the capital Mogadishu.

The United Nations refugee agency says over 100,000 people have arrived in Mogadishu and surrounding areas in the past two months in search of food and water.

Yesterday, Irish aid agencies told an Oireachtas Committee that the loss of life in the region will be staggering if the international community does not respond soon.