Record numbers going hungry in Yemen amid escalating conflict, WFP says

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Hunger in Yemen is accelerating, with a record number of people unable to meet their food needs as conflict intensifies in the country, the World FoodProgramme said on Friday.

Yemen is experiencing the most serious escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthi group since a UN-brokered truce largely halted cross-border attacks ​in 2022.

The renewed ​conflict has already displaced tens of thousands of people and could reshape control in Yemen, with implications for Red Sea shipping lanes and theBab el-Mandeb Strait.

Within a few weeks, a record number of people in government-controlled areas of the country where the WFP can access are no longer able to meet their food needs, with three out of four of households skipping meals, according to Matthew Hollingworth, the WFP’s Assistant Executive Director for Programme Operations.

The total population of government-held areas is estimated at around 10 million people.

“The effect of this latest flare-up of insecurity on the food security situation threatens to be absolutely devastating,” Hollingworth told reporters in Geneva via video link from Rome.

(Reporting by Olivia Le PoidevinEditing by Ludwig Burger)