Rome, Safar 25, 1436, Dec 17, 2014, SPA -- The Ebola epidemic has seriously affected food supply chains in West Africa, leaving 500,000 people without enough to eat, UN agencies said Wednesday in Rome. Without intervention, the number of people facing food insecurity could reach 1 million by March, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said. "The outbreak has revealed the vulnerability of current food production systems and value chains in the worst Ebola-affected countries," said Bukar Tijani, FAO's regional representative for Africa. According to dpa, food security in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - where border closures, quarantines and hunting bans have been imposed - has deteriorated due to crop losses and the disruption of production and supply chains. In addition, the outbreak has hurt the overall economies in the three countries, leaving them with less money to pay for necessary food imports. --SPA 17:34 LOCAL TIME 14:34 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w