Malawi is one of the world's poorest countries
Jan Egeland, the UN relief coordinator, called on donors particularly those in the Gulf states benefiting from high oil prices to help out.
The UN launched an appeal last month for the more than 4m Malawians who are facing hunger after the worst harvest in a decade.
The majority of Malawians live on less than a dollar a day.
On Wednesday, British aid agency Oxfam said that up to 10m people in southern Africa could face severe food shortages later this year unless wealthy nations take immediate action.
'Windfall'
"We have received zero pledges for this appeal," Mr Egeland announced 10 days after the UN had called for assistance.
NEEDING FOOD AID Malawi: 4m Zimbabwe: 4m Zambia: 1m Lesotho: 500,000 Mozambique: 400,000 Swaziland: 200,000 Source: Oxfam
He asked oil-producing nations to be more generous with their share of profits from high oil prices on world markets.
"There are many countries in the Gulf and elsewhere who have received an enormous windfall from these oil prices. We can save a life for a $1 a day," he told reporters.
About 4.2m of Malawi's 11m people face hunger. Maize production this year stood at 1.3 million tonnes, far short of the 2.1 million tonnes needed to stave off famine.
Oxfam began to distribute food in Malawi this week, but they say they need far more.
The charity says people could face food shortages in a belt of countries including Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
HIV hits farming
Southern Africa was weakened by severe food shortages leading to major international appeals in 2002, and drought this year has been worse than it was then, aid agencies say.
They are urging donors not to ignore the lessons of Niger's food crisis, when early warnings of hunger went unheeded and little was done until television cameras showed children starving to death.
These appeals come as scientists warned that farming in Africa has declined at an alarming rate since the start of the Aids epidemic.
The virus is ravaging agriculture, with the areas of cultivated land dropping in parts of Kenya by 68%, the British Association of Science Festival revealed on Wednesday.
Some 80% of Africans derive their livelihood from farming, so it is vital to the continent's economic growth.
Southern Africa has some of the world's highest rates of HIV infection, with between 30% and 40% of the adult population HIV positive.
Location of Malawi
The United Nations have called upon member states to donate US$88m to fight hunger in Malawi. So far, not a single country responded.

U.N   launched an appeal ten days ago and especially called upon nations in the Persian Gulf, who are benefiting from the current high oil prices, to donate. "There are many countries in the Gulf and elsewhere who have received an enormous windfall from these oil prices. We can save a life for a $1 a day", Egeland said.

Malawi is one the poorest countries in the world. The majority of the population live on less than one US dollar a day. Four million people out of a population of ten million face hunger every single day.

The domestic production of  has plunged to 1.3 million tons, only half of what is needed to feed the population. The prices on the other hand have increased by 50%, making it even harder for the affected people.

 estimates that in the entire  region, about 10 million people would face serious food shortages later this year if the developed countries don't act quickly. HIV/AIDS is also a major problem for southern Africa with the infection rate being as high as 40% of the adult population.