Three out of four households in accessible government-held parts of Yemen cannot meet their basic food needs, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says. The figure, 74 percent, is the highest recorded in those areas this year and comes as renewed fighting displaces families and disrupts food supplies.
Conflict compounds food insecurity
Yemen imports about 90 percent of its food, leaving families especially exposed when conflict disrupts markets and transport. The WFP says tens of thousands have been displaced in recent months as fighting escalated between Saudi-backed government forces and the Houthi movement, which controls the capital Sanaa and much of the north.
The agency estimates that 18.3 million people across Yemen face severe food insecurity, including 2.2 million children under five who are acutely malnourished. More than 149,000 people have been displaced, many more than once, while thousands have crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Djibouti.
Funding shortfall threatens aid
The WFP says it is scaling up to assist as many as 1.5 million people but needs $109 million. It has already redirected resources planned for November distributions and warns that displaced people could face gaps in assistance within a month without new funding.
The agency calls the escalation a serious threat to food security. Further disruption around the Red Sea shipping routes could also increase food and fuel prices, adding pressure to families already struggling to find enough to eat.
