ReliefWeb

IN NUMBERS

14.1 million people food insecure (more than 50% of the population)

2.75 million people displaced since the escalation of conflict in March 2015

1 million reached by FAO since March 2015

USD 17.85 million FAO funding gap against the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan 2016

KEY MESSAGES

• The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released in June 2016 confirms that 9 Governorates out of 22 are under Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and 10 Governorates are in Phase 3 (Crisis), with some governorates seeing as much as 70 percent of their population under severe food insecurity. The severity of the food insecurity and nutrition situation in Taiz City and Lowland districts needs special attention.

• At least 7 million people are living under Emergency levels of food insecurity (26 percent of the population under IPC Phase 4) – a 15 percent increase since June 2015 – and 7.1 million people are in a state of Crisis (25 percent under IPC Phase 3) and need urgent life-saving food and livelihood assistance.

• Some 3 million children under the age of five and pregnant or nursing women require services to treat or prevent acute malnutrition, according to UNICEF data. Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) is at an alarming stage in most of the country's governorates, reaching levels of 25.1 percent in Taiz Lowland and 21.7 in Al Hodeidah.

• 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.

• Urgent donor funding is needed by September to provide producers with seeds and tools in time for the agriculture season, and for backyard farming, small poultry production, livestock vaccination and the rehabilitation of water harvesting infrastructure for local food production.

• A Level-3 Emergency Response has been extended for an additional six months. FAO calls for all parties to act in accordance with international humanitarian law to protect civilians and to guarantee the humanitarian community safe, unconditional, and sustained access to people in need across Yemen.

FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION CRISIS

The crisis has severely disrupted the agriculture sector. Ongoing conflict, displacement and limited access to farmland and fishing sites continue to cause significant losses to agriculture and threaten farmers’ livelihoods. Major drivers of food insecurity include high fuel prices and shortages, economic crisis, loss of livelihoods and employment opportunities, destruction of the trade routes and road infrastructure, and import restrictions that have reduced availability and increased the cost of essential food commodities in the country, which imports some percent of its staple foods. Limited access to water supply for irrigation due to high fuel prices, shortages of seeds and fertilizers have crippled crop production across Yemen, where around percent of the labour force earns their living from the agriculture sector and related activities. The average domestic prices of wheat were 28.18 percent higher in July 2016 (FSIS/FSTS market update) compared with pre-­‐crisis levels. Two cyclones in November 2015, plus locust swarms in April and flash floods in July/August further plagued already struggling communities, limiting their ability to produce and access food.

The situation within affected areas is likely to deteriorate if conflict persists.