Twenty per cent of East Timor's people need food aid after severe droughts and locust plagues battered crops in the troubled young nation, two UN food agencies say.

"A poor harvest this year has worsened the already fragile livelihoods of people all over Timor, but especially among the poorest people living in rural and more remote districts," said Anthony Banbury, regional director of the World Food Program.

Production of maize, the country's most important crop, dropped by 30 per cent in 2007. Rice, cereals and cassava also have been hit hard, leaving between 210,000 and 220,000 people in need of help.

An estimated 15,000 tons of emergency food assistance will be needed to avert a major crisis, according to a joint assessment by the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organisation in March and April.

East Timor, a tiny nation that broke from Indonesia in 1999 after 24 years of occupation, was plunged into crisis a year ago when factional fighting broke out between police and army forces.

The clashes spilled onto the streets, where looting, arson and gang warfare left at least 37 dead and sent 155,000 people fleeing their homes. Many still live in temporary shelters or with relatives.