Hunger is rising sharply across the East Africa region following the third season in a row without sufficient rain to grow crops.

That’s according to a new alert from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which says that crops are scorched, pastures dry, and thousands of livestock dead.

Rural families in the affected areas need urgent and effective support said FAO, and the plight is being made worse by an invasive pest called the fall armyworm, which is eating its way across the continent.

Sandra Ferrari asked Alessandro Costantino, an FAO economist based in Rome, for more details.

Duration: 2’29”