CARE International UK called for a "drastic overhaul" of the international community's funding of emergencies, which it says saves lives but does little more, sometimes leaving people worse off than they were before.

"It is a disgrace that money is still given too late and for such short periods, then spent on the wrong things to truly fight emergencies," said Geoffrey Dennis, chief executive of CARE International UK.

"There is no excuse, when by spending money more intelligently, we can bring an end to all but the most unpredictable food crises," he added.

A CARE report said that more than 120 million people in Africa are living "permanently on the edge of emergency" because of the current system, which often provides funding too late, or inappropriately.

By 2020, some 165 million pounds (245 million euros, 310 million dollars) will have been spent on emergencies, some of which could be prevented, the report said.

Examples of where money could have been better spent abound, the report said.

Ethiopia, it pointed out, has reported itself to be in food crisis 93 percent of the time from 1986-2004, yet US spending on long-term aid for the country is less than one percent of emergency aid.

In another example, the report said responding early to the emergency in the west African state of Niger in 2005 would have cost one dollar a day to prevent child malnutrition.

Instead, at the peak of the crisis it cost 80 dollars to save a malnourished child's life.

The report says that lack of food is rarely the cause of emergencies; rather it is underlying problems including the AIDS virus HIV, lack of local markets, climate change and lack of cash that make people so vulnerable to emergencies.

"It is these problems that must be addressed in order to end hunger," said CARE.