Local Editor

According to a new joint study by two United Nations [UN] organizations on Wednesday, it said that six million people in Yemen are slipping towards severe hunger and now need emergency food and life-saving assistance, "a sharp increase" from the last quarter of 2014.

Yemen Representative for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], Salah El Hajj Hassan, warned that, "We are seeing a serious deterioration of the food security situation because of the ongoing conflict, which is also making humanitarian access difficult". 

The report said that in addition to the population facing a food security ’emergency,’ another over 6.5 million people are classified as facing a food insecurity security ’crisis’.

"Unless access to the affected population is guaranteed to provide humanitarian assistance, further deterioration of the situation is very likely," Hassan further said.

The report found that ten out of Yemen’s 22 governorates are now classified as facing food insecurity at ’emergency’ level. Millions more are highly vulnerable and could easily fall into emergency levels unless there is a dramatic improvement in the availability and access to food at prices that most people can afford.

Moreover, the World Food Programme [WFP] Representative and Country Director Purnima Kashyap, underlined that, "Until a political solution is in place in the country, we will continue to see an increase in the number of people struggling to feed themselves and their families across Yemen". 

"We appeal to all parties to ensure unrestricted access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected people," she added. 

The intensified conflict in Yemen has created a scarcity of staple foods and other essential commodities, disrupting livelihoods, markets, agriculture and fisheries, import, export and commercial activities, among others.

The report said that situation has resulted in a serious reduction in people’s incomes, as well as difficulty in accessing basic staple foods. Although the entire country is facing the effects of the conflict, the poorest households, internally displaced, unskilled labourers, and marginalized groups, are most affected.