Despite the international aid effort in Somalia, the famine affecting millions of people deepens and the death toll continues to climb.

International organisations are calling for aid to be intensified and in Mogadishu, local officials whose districts have been swamped by new arrivals are echoing that plea.

From dawn to dusk, many work hard to keep the people of Mogadishu alive.

Truckloads of corn - the staple food that means the difference between life and death for millions in Somalia - are ground each day.

In one backyard operation, two grinding machines provide meals that are shared amongst almost 300,000 people. Once ground, it is passed over to a shed crammed full of women whose job is to sift out the unwanted husks.

But one mill can do only do so much.

Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, the speaker of Somalia's transitional government, says the need across the city is overwhelming.

"We thank those who have assisted us already," he said. "And for those who haven't we want to request they assist the Somalis to get out of the current situation.

"We also request that Somalis, wherever they are, to help their brothers and sisters to get out of the current crisis."

In Mogadishu, new arrivals find shelter wherever they can. Many of the city's bombed out and derelict buildings have been taken over.

In what was a shopfront building, children have found a space to sit down to learn the Koran by rote.

Space is a premium. There is no international aid or relief and people are making do with whatever they have.

On the outskirts of the city, the camps just keep getting bigger.

Roni Hassan is 25 years old and both of her children are now dead.

Her five-year-old child, weakened by lack of food, died from measles. Her newborn baby died shortly after she gave birth. She herself was sick and had no milk to feed him.

Reaching Mogadishu represented hope, but getting there took too long.

"We were willing for a long time to come to Mogadishu," she said. "But Al Shabaab was blocking everyone. The last place they blocked us was on the outskirts of Mogadishu.

"For a few days they wouldn't let us in, but at last we got here."

The UN declared a famine in two regions of southern Somalia - where 3.7 million people are going hungry - on July 20.

Communities are being swamped by new arrivals.

Somalis know concern about security is keeping international help from reaching them, while risks remain so does the need for urgent action.

