Rageh Omaar Africa correspondent, Johannesburg

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies has launched an urgent appeal for international assistance to help southern African countries cope with the threat of widespread hunger in the region.

The Red Cross made the appeal at a meeting in South Africa, attended by its representatives from the affected countries.

Aid organizations say that without international aid, 13 million people across six countries face the threat of starvation this year.

The regional Red Cross society leaders appealed for about $62m dollars to provide direct support for hungry communities across the region.

This includes nearly 80,000 tonnes of emergency food supplies for the most vulnerable; women, children and the elderly.

Too late?

The harvest season has already passed in southern Africa and, again in many countries the crops failed.

	:	Southern Africa famine
In pictures: Southern Africa famine

It will not be long before countries with scarce resources like Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe have run out.

Red Cross delegates said that the combination of hunger and Aids was causing a terrible tragedy which the world needed to respond to urgently.

Red Cross food security coordinator, Renny Nancholas, said that for many people it was already too late.

Delivery

But even if all the pledges of food and money were to be made immediately the problems would not end there.

The maize is running out

The most difficult challenge will be in delivering that aid; many of the countries, like Malawi and Zimbabwe, are land-locked with poor transportation and infrastructure.

The Norwegian Government is contributing a fleet of 200 trucks to help with the logistics of what will be a huge and complex humanitarian operation.

But it does not have much time to get going, if it is going to avert widespread hunger throughout the region.