Three in four households go hungry in parts of Yemen amid fighting: UN
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Three out of four families in parts of Yemen are going hungry after a surge in fighting displaced tens of thousands of people and disrupted food supplies, the United Nations food agency says.
Some 74 percent of households in accessible government-held areas cannot meet their basic food needs, a record for this year, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
An estimated 10 million people reside in government-held areas, according to WFP figures.
The rise in food insecurity indicates how quickly hunger is deepening in a country that imports about 90 percent of its food, as markets are disrupted and aid access shrinks.
In recent months, Yemen has faced a major escalation in fighting between Saudi-backed government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthi group that controls parts of the country.
The latest flare-up “threatens to be absolutely devastating” for food security, said WFP’s Assistant Executive Director for Programme Operations Matthew Hollingworth.
“We are looking at a hunger crisis that is going to grow as it persists,” he added, speaking to reporters in Geneva via video link from Rome on Friday.
The Houthis, who already control most of northern Yemen including the capital Sanaa, seized the country’s Red Sea coast last month from the internationally recognised government, based in the southern port city of Aden.
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