UN agencies warn of food shortages in Yemen

By Nathan Morley

The situation in the Yemen is bleak. The country has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including Sanaa, the capital.

Now, United Nations agencies have warned the number of people facing food insecurity in southern Yemen may increase from 2 million to 3.2 million in six months.

The analysis forecasts an alarming increase of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity which will rise sharply because of a number of factors, including poor economic conditions, conflict, flash floods, locusts and the coronavirus pandemic.

The report prepared by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) proposed recommendations such as ensuring continued food assistance, rehabilitating local water infrastructure damaged by floods, supporting farmers and promoting good nutritional practices.

The conflict in Yemen has been raging for six years, when, working with forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Houtis seized much of the nation including the capital Sanaa.

The war escalated a year later, when a Saudi-UAE-led coalition intervened against the rebels in an attempt to restore the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The Yemen war has branded the worst humanitarian crisis of recent times.