Rice prices in the peri-urban areas of Yangon and the second largest city, Mandalay, were meanwhile up four percent since the last week of February, the WFP said.
WFP said 1.35 million people, or just over a third of the south's population, will require such aid, almost twice the number that needed it in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the hardship, causing seasonal employment to dry up. Many families relied on this income to get through the lean season,
The World Food Programme (WFP) said three consecutive years of drought had pushed half of the region's population, or 1.5 million people, into "crisis" or "emergency" hunger conditions.