Jolie is known for her charity work

Actress Angelina Jolie has expressed her dismay over the food shortages faced by refugees at a Tanzanian camp.

Jolie visited the Lugufu camp during a six-day trip to Tanzania as part of her work for the United Nations as a goodwill ambassador.

The Oscar-winning actress followed a group of 91 children who had arrived from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, joining 85,000 fellow Congolese citizens already at the camp.

"I was shocked," said Jolie. "There are so many children there, so much sadness, and there is so little that they can do because they are locked in these camps."

The Lara Croft star, known for making donations to various charities, has given �20,000 to help the African refugees.

The UN Refugee Agency and the World Food Programme are urgently appealing for donations to help the 1.2 million refugees in Africa who are facing severe hunger following cuts in food aid.

Jolie has donated �20,000 to the African refugees

There is concern that the crisis in Iraq is attracting donors that would otherwise give their money to African aid.

The problem is exacerbated by the severe drought which has reduced agricultural production by nearly 50% in some countries.

Jolie said she was distressed at the "desperate situation" and hoped to make others aware of the crisis.

The actress has requested that half of the money she has donated should go towards therapeutic feeding kits for the under-fives and the other half towards agricultural tools for refugees.

The Lara Croft star said her heart is with international refugees rather than the Hollywood film industry when she visited a refugee camp in Thailand last year.

Earlier this month she pledged $5m (�3.2m) to set up a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia. Her son Maddox is an adopted Cambodian-born boy.