Sabah suffers food shortages

Sabah suffers food shortages

MATUNGGONG, Malaysia (Reuters): A combination of drought and forest fires have shriveled crops in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island, forcing hungry villagers to eat wild tapioca.

"We have been eating wild tapioca since January when our rice supplies ran out," Thomas Monginjing said in Matunggong, 200 kilometers northeast of Sabah's state capital of Kota Kinabalu.

Authorities and relief agencies said more than 6,000 villagers in Matunggong were short of food due to the drought that started last October.

The dry weather, blamed on the El Nino phenomenon, has dried up streams in the district, forcing villagers to dig wells of murky water for drinking and washing.