Saturday, December 05, 2015

Hunger stalks Yemen

In the war that Cameron and Obama would prefer you not to know too much about because of the  war crimes committed by their Arab allies, half of Yemen is 'one step away' from famine. The United Nations food agency has warned that food supplies in Yemen are deteriorating quickly and that the country is at risk of slipping into famine. Ten out of Yemen's 22 governorates were now classified as facing food insecurity at "emergency" level, which is one step below famine, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday. As war rages, millions of people are struggling to access basic necessities such as food, water and fuel.

By mid-October, average wheat flour prices were 47 percent higher than the February average, the report noted, while diesel prices in October were 270 percent higher than in February. At the same time, household income has fallen as residents struggle to make a living. "A continuation of current trends of reduced household income and increased food prices could lead to deteriorating food security outcomes in the coming months," the report stated, noting many residents in southern and western Yemen are facing an "emergency" state, the second most severe category of food insecurity after "catastrophe/famine". The situation is particularly grave for displaced people and those trapped in active conflict zones.

"Clearly, Yemen is one of the hardest place in the world today to work - massive security concerns, escalation in the fighting and the violence across the country," WFP's Deputy Regional Director Matthew Hollingworth said in the capital Sanaa.

According to the UN's 2016 Humanitarian Needs Overview in November, 14.4 million people of the country's 23 million are food insecure, struggling to get enough food to live a healthy life. That includes 7.6 million people in desperate need of food assistance.

The Arab coalition has bombed rebel positions across Yemen since March. The UN says more than 5,700 people have been killed in the country since then, nearly half of them civilians. More than one million people have been displaced in the fighting.

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