GENEVA, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - The Red Cross said Wednesday it was launching an 28 million Swiss franc (26.6 million dollars, 17.1 million euros) emergency food security appeal for Zimbabwe as millions of vulnerable people face hunger.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that up to 5.1 million people could face food insecurity by the beginning of next year if current harvest projections are accurate.

'This figure represents approximately 45 percent of the country's population,' said Peter Lundberg, the head of the IFRC's delegation in Harare.

'It gives a clear indication of how severe the situation is and could become. We are very concerned.'

The initial emergency appeal will help the Zimbabwe Red Cross deliver food aid to some 260,000 particularly vulnerable people, and for the organisation to import over 35,000 metric tonnes of food into the country.

On Monday, Zimbabwe state media said the government had suspended exports of basic commodities amid a devastating meltdown and chronic food shortages.

The suspension comes amid a political crisis in Zimbabwe that intensified after President Robert Mugabe's re-election in June in a one-man poll widely condemned as a sham.

Basic foods such as sugar, bread, cornmeal -- the national staple -- and cooking oil are often in short supply in Zimbabwe, which was once a regional breadbasket.

The country's inflation rate has been officially put at 2.2 million percent and at least 80 percent of the population lives below the poverty threshold.