ROME, Dec 8 (AFP) - Food shortages due to drought and armed conflicts are forecast in 23 African countries and in some regions millions of people will need emergency aid to subsist, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned Monday in a report.

It said that though some areas in Sub-Saharan Africa can expect bumper crops, the situation is dire in many countries including Somalia and parts of south-eastern Ethiopia where successive droughts are a cause for "serious concern."

Some 93,000 people in Somalia are in need of urgent food and other humanitarian assistance while in Eritrea 1.4 million people need aid, the FAO said.

In Ivory Coast, where 14 months of political and military chaos have crippled the country, the "food situation is critical, particularly in the west and rebel-controlled north," it added.

Zimbabwe, another conflict-ridden country, is also facing widespread shortages of key inputs such as seeds and fuel.

"Some 5.5 million people, or half of the country's population, are in need of emergency food assistance," the report said.

"In Angola, food assistance is needed for 1.4 million vulnerable people in spite of good harvests in 2003."

The report said that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a major and widespread impact on sub-Saharan Africa's food security.

Among African countries expected to fare better concerning food than their neighbors are Ethiopia and Sudan where generally improved harvests should enhance food security.

The situation is also improving in Sierra Leone, despite below-normal rainfall, and in Liberia.

In Western Africa, a bumper crop is expected in the Sahel because of favourable weather conditions, the report said, but it warned that Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau and Mauritania still face food shortages.

The situation is also worrisome in Angola, Madagascar and Mozambique where some 2.7 million people need food assistance, the report said.

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