South Sudanese refugees are seen at Ngomoromo in Lamwo, northern Ugandan, April 12, 2017. Since the start of the year, some 192,000 South Sudanese have fled to neighboring Uganda, a country currently hosting 832,000 refugees from South Sudan, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported. (Xinhua/Ronald Ssekandi)

KAMPALA, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday said it is in urgent need of 60 million U.S. dollars to feeding over 1.2 million refugees in Uganda, half of them fleeing political instability and famine in South Sudan.

The food aid agency in a video statement on Thursday said the money would be used to feed the refugees starting this month to October this year.

The agency said the number of refugees it assists has more than doubled in the last year and its operation is under considerable strain to meet their full food needs.

"We need sufficient resources at the right time to keep our warehouses stocked in order to provide a constant supply of food for the refugees who depend on us. It takes time to convert cash contributions into food," the statement said.

The agency said it is spending 16 million dollars a month to support the refugees, warning that if the required money does not come in it will face a major crisis.

Uganda now hosts the largest refugee population in Africa - over 1.2 million people - and the Bidibidi refugee settlement in Ugandan northwestern district of Yumbe is now the world's largest refugee settlement.