A Chinese official said on Sunday that the government has provided emergency food and aid funds worth 533 million yuan (82 million US dollars) to drought-hit countries in the Horn of Africa.

Through aid and cooperation, China will improve the ability to reduce the risk and loss of drought disaster, a challenge that both Africa and China face, Li Liguo, Minister of Civil Affairs, said at a meeting held by the ministry and a secretariat for international disaster relief of the United Nations.

The meeting is expected to carry out an action plan achieved by the fourth ministerial meeting of China-Africa Cooperation Forum held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in November 2009.

More than 40 delegates from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Sudan, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, China, the UNDP and other UN agencies attended the three-day meeting to discuss disaster relief issues.

China sent its first shipment of emergency humanitarian food aid from northern port Tianjin to drought and famine victims in the Horn of Africa on Sept. 2.

The Chinese government also has provided satellite mapping services for African countries to acquire live information on the drought to evaluate the impact of the disaster.