According to analysis released by the United Nations and humanitarian partners, an estimated 17 million people in Yemen are hungry.
Yemen is an Arab country in Western Asia, occupying South Arabia, the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen is the second-largest country in the peninsula, occupying 527,970 km2 (203,850 sq mi).
Although Yemen’s constitutionally stated capital is the city of Sana’a, the city has been under rebel control since February 2015. Because of this, Yemen’s capital has been temporarily relocated to the port city of Aden, on the southern coast. Yemen’s territory includes more than 200 islands; the largest of these is Socotra.
Twenty of the country’s 22 governorates are in ’emergency’ or ‘crisis’ food insecurity phases and almost two-thirds of the population are now facing hunger and urgently require life and livelihood-saving assistance.
These numbers represent an increase of 21 per cent since June 2016.
The crisis is fuelled by the two-year long conflict, with almost 80 per cent of households in Yemen report having a worse economic situation than before the fighting.
The conflict has a devastating impact on agricultural livelihoods. Crop and livestock production fell significantly compared to pre-crisis levels.
The food insecurity is causing malnutrition rates to spike. Of the 2.2 million children suffering from acute malnutrition, more than 460,000 are severely and acutely malnourished, a categorization known as “SAM” in the humanitarian community.
Yemen has been in a state of political crisis since 2011, starting with street protests against poverty, unemployment, corruption, and president Saleh’s plan to amend Yemen’s constitution and eliminate the presidential term limit, in effect making him president for life.
