More than a million people in Myanmar will be cut off from life-saving food assistance provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) from next month because of critical shortfalls in funding, the latest cut in humanitarian support from the U.

The United Nations food agency said on Friday that more than 1 million people in the war-torn nation of Myanmar will be cut off from food assistance due to critical funding shortfalls.

(Reuters) - The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday more than a million people in Myanmar will be cut off from its lifesaving food assistance, starting from April, because of critical shortfalls in funding.

"More than one million people in Myanmar will be cut off from WFP's lifesaving food assistance starting in April due to critical funding shortfalls," it said in a statement. "These cuts come just as increased conflict, displacement and access restrictions are already sharply driving up food aid needs," it said.

The United Nations’ World Food Programme is closing its southern African bureau that’s been leading a response to the worst drought in the region in four decades as it expects funding from donors such as the US to slump by two fifths.

The decision comes amid widespread drought throughout the region, as well as an increasingly fraught war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rohingya refugees in crammed Bangladeshi camps say they are worried about a U.S. decision to cut food rations by half beginning next month, while a refugee official says the reduction will impact the nutrition of more than 1 million refugees and create social and mental pressure.

The WFP said it would need £46 million to continue food assistance in Myanmar and called on its partners to identify additional funding.

More than a million people in Myanmar will be cut off from lifesaving food assistance provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) from next month because of critical shortfalls in funding, the United Nations' food agency said on Friday.