Yemen's food situation on verge of 'humanitarian disaster' – UN

12 May 2016 - The food security and nutrition situation in Yemen will turn into a humanitarian disaster unless urgent funding is accessible for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to deliver timely aid in the April/May cereal and vegetable planting season and the summer fishing season, and vaccinate livestock before winter, the United Nations agency has warned.

Around 14.4 million people – over half of Yemen's population – urgently need food security and livelihood assistance, FAO reported earlier this week. The volume of food required in Yemen is far greater than humanitarian actors can provide. Agriculture must be an integral part of the humanitarian response to prevent Yemen's dire food security situation from worsening.

Increasing households' resilience to food security threats will contribute to saving many lives. Emergency agricultural interventions are critical to preserving household. Food production and income generation are especially vital in hard-to-reach areas where aid access is limited.

The factors negatively affecting the food security include a reported desert locust outbreak, which threatens the livelihoods of more than 100,000 farmers, beekeepers and herders in five governorates, and the April flooding, which put 49,000 people in need of urgent assistance, the FAO said.