By Jonathon Burch

KABUL, July 9 (Reuters) - The Afghan government and the United Nations launched an appeal for more than $400 million on Wednesday to feed the country's most vulnerable people hit hard by rising food prices, poor harvests and drought.

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world and has been struggling with food price rises of up to 100 percent. Added to this, low rainfall and poor harvests have meant that millions of Afghans have had to rely largely on food handouts.

Afghanistan's wheat harvest this year is expected to be 36 percent lower than 2007, the U.N. says. Last year Afghanistan produced more than 90 percent of its own food, while this year's harvest is expected to meet two-thirds of the country's demand.

An appeal was launched in January for $81 million dollars to help the most vulnerable, but the money is due to run out in August.

"Since we are in a situation which is worse than in January, we are appealing for a period of 12 months," U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan Bo Asplund told a news conference attended by diplomats and donors.

The appeal for more than $404 million will aim to feed 4.5 million of Afghanistan's most vulnerable people. Half of this amount will go to ensuring food security while 6 percent of it will be spent on sanitation, hygeine, nutrition and health. The remainder will be spent on agriculture, said Asplund.

International donors at a conference in Paris in May pledged some $20 billion for development in Afghanistan.

"We really appeal to donors to continue their generosity and support of the Afghan people because really, through no fault of the people or the government, the situation has really become exacerbated since January," said Asplund.

A large portion of the money pledged in Paris has already been allocated to agriculture under a five-year development plan. But Asplund said this new appeal was needed to meet more short-term needs.

"The money that was pledged in Paris ... when it comes to agriculture is very much for medium and long-term investment," he said.

The money expected through the latest appeal will allow the government and international donors "breathing space" to plan how to put the money pledged in Paris to effective use, said Asplund.

"So the 12-month period on the one hand will feed people ... but it will also help farmers to plant in the Autumn and that is key to what happens next year. So the idea is to avoid going into an appeal again next year," he said. (Editing by Alex Richardson)

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