EXTREME weather attributed to the El Nino phenomenon is causing a surge in hunger in several countries, including Zambia and Afghanistan, the World Food Programme (WFP) has said, urging donors to provide badly needed help.

El Nino is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific Ocean that shifts global weather patterns. Studies say that as the world warms, the effects may grow stronger.

In a statement, the WFP warned on Wednesday that southern Africa was the “epicentre of the crisis” following a cycle of floods and drought that has battered the region over the last three years.