PARIS (AP)– Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai called his tour of Europe and the United States a success Thursday, though he won few commitments of aid amid new U.N. warnings of food shortages in his country.

Officials in France, Tsvangirai's last stop on a nearly three-week tour, offered political support but said any new aid would focus on non-governmental organizations and not go directly to the power-sharing government.

Many Western nations want authoritarian President Robert Mugabe to step down and are reluctant to offer Zimbabwe major aid or donate money directly to the government.

"Why are the funds going to NGOs and not the government? ... To us that is neither here nor there," Tsvangirai told reporters in Paris. "The funds that are being given are going to Zimbabweans."

Tsvangirai said he was "not disappointed at all" in the limited aid commitments, insisting that his visits to foreign capitals were aimed at building a "new foreign policy relationship."

"If our objective was to re-engage, it's very successful," he said.

Zimbabwe has had the highest inflation rate in the world, thousands of people have died during a major cholera outbreak, and much of the population lacks food. Many blame Mugabe but have been increasingly critical of Tsvangirai, saying his government isn't moving fast enough to end his country's economic and humanitarian crisis.

France's junior minister for cooperation, Alain Joyandet, said after meeting Tsvangirai that specifics of French aid would be discussed later Thursday.

"France is beside and supports the unity government," Joyandet said. While aid is currently focused on charity groups, he said, "things could be progressive" toward direct government aid.

Tsvangirai met Thursday with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and was to meet later with Prime Minister Francois Fillon. He will meet Friday with Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, a group of leading French executives and the director of the French Development Agency.

When Tsvangirai visited Britain this week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged 5 million pounds ($8.2 million) in new aid for food projects and textbooks. Britain said aid would be distributed by charities.

Two U.N. food agencies said Thursday that Zimbabwe is still threatened by food shortages despite improved agricultural production and more liberal imports this year. The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program said in a joint report that about 2.8 million people will face food shortages this year, as the total cereal availability reaches 1.4 million tons against a projected need of 2.1 million tons.

Tsvangirai launched the tour saying he wasn't carrying a begging bowl but wanted to mend his nation's relations with Western leaders, who accuse Mugabe of trampling on democracy and ruining a once-vibrant economy.

In London, angry protesters shouted him off stage when he appealed to exiles to return to the battered African nation. In Washington, President Barack Obama made clear he's not convinced Tsvangirai can turn the country around in partnership with Mugabe. The European Union told Tsvangirai it wants to see improvements in human rights before restoring aid.