More than 20 million people in Africa are at risk of starving to death, yet two-thirds of Australians know very little about it.
That's what an aid agency-commissioned poll has found, after people were asked about the worsening famine in East Africa.
Some of the hardest-hit countries are South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Yemen.
It has been described as nothing short of a catastrophe - an unfolding crisis spurred on by drought and civil unrest, with more than 20 million people on the brink of starvation.
The United Nations says the famine in East Africa is the largest humanitarian crisis since World War Two.
The C-E-O of Caritas Australia, Paul O'Callaghan says the scale of the crisis is immense.
"20 million people, are actually on the brink of starvation in these countries in East Africa. That's big, that's a very very big thing. We haven't seen anything like this kind of crisis in 70 years."
But many Australians know nothing about the famine.
An Essential Media poll found a third of respondents knew little about the current famine in East Africa and Yemen.
29 per cent knew only a little about it, and 32 per cent had heard about it.
But some six per cent even said as far as they were aware, there is no crisis in Africa.
When people were told about the millions of people at risk, less than a quarter said they'd be willing to donate.
Many cited a lack of spare money and a preference for supporting causes closer to home.
Caritas CEO Paul O'Callaghan says the crisis can't be ignored.
"I understand we all tend to relate to things that are much closer to us. The only difference in this case is that we are talking about nearly 20 million people who are facing starvation, just on the other side of the Indian Ocean. That's actually not that far from Australia."
Caritas says the media focus on other issues including North Korea, terrorism and elections around the world could be contributing to a lack of awareness.
Other aid agencies agree the crisis is reaching a critical phase.
The C-E-O of Oxfam Australia, Helen Szoke has recently returned from a trip to South Sudan.
She says the international community can't turn its back.
"We have the compounding effects of famine. As we go into the wet season, we'll see incidences of cholera, we'll start to see deaths, we'll see massively malnourished children which takes a long time to get children back from that situation."
In countries including Ethiopia, the U-N says only half of the money pledged by the international community has been donated this year.
The Australian government has pledged $68 million to the cause.
