The provincial administrator in Enga Province in Papua New Guinea says it will take up to a year for people to recover from several days of severe frost damage.
The frosts hit the highlands province earlier this month and followed two months of drought which is continuing to pose a threat.
Enga is a mostly rural province and the provincial administrator, Dr Samson Amean, says in some districts entire crops, including the main staple, sweet potato, have gone.
He says they are looking to supplement food supplies with rice, wheat, canned meat and fish, but need funds to pay for it.
"We are working on getting support from the national Government and it has indicated it will assist with the problems, but as to how much, we will know this by Thursday."
Dr Amean puts the numbers affected at more than 200 thousand.
He says many have moved to other villages to stay with relatives.
