PRETORIA, January 16. /TASS/. More than thirteen million children age five and younger are under threat of hunger in countries of West and Central Africa, the UN World Food Programme said in a report posted on its official web portal.

The summer period will be especially tough on these regions, when 55 mln people may face famine, the organization said. Last year's harvest stocks will be depleted around this time and the new harvest will not be gathered yet.

In recent decades, there have never been such significant number of people in West and Central Africa facing famine. Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad are the countries most at risk.

The World Food Programme urged the international community to allocate funds to Africa immediately to prevent people from starving to death.