Yemen: Hunger crisis deepens as funding cuts leave millions without support
Around five million people – or 47 per cent of the population – are currently experiencing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity (Phase 3 and above).
Meanwhile a further 1.4 million people are trapped in the “emergency” phase, with the number expected to grow as the year progresses. “Families are being pushed beyond their coping capacity by the combined effects of economic collapse, climate shocks, disrupted livelihoods and declining humanitarian support,” the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a joint statement.Hunger set to deepenThe lean season from June to September is expected to push the number facing emergency conditions to 1.5 million.Looking further ahead, the post-harvest period from October to December 2026 is unlikely to bring meaningful recovery with number of people in Emergency conditions (IPC Phase 4) expected to further increase to 1.8 million.Food insecurity remains a major driver of Yemen’s high malnutrition burden following well over a decade of war between Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized Government.Reduced dietary diversity, poor household food consumption, limited access to essential preventive nutrition services, and worsening living conditions are increasing the risk of acute malnutrition, particularly among pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children. Economic decline and aid cutsIrregular salaries, high food and fuel prices, reduced income opportunities and constraints on agricultural production are limiting families’ ability to meet even basic food needs. Around 60 per cent of Yemeni households depend at least partly on farming, yet harvests face mounting pressure from extreme weather, pest outbreaks and disrupted supply chains.At the same time, humanitarian food assistance and humanitarian interventions in the areas of nutrition, health, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are expected to decline sharply because of critical funding shortfalls, removing support at the moment it is needed most.
