UN agency chiefs Monday said that war-torn Yemen’s hunger crisis is “teetering on the edge of outright catastrophe” with more than 17.4 million Yemenis facing food insecurity and an additional 1.6 million expected to fall into emergency levels of hunger.

The number of people experiencing “catastrophic” levels of hunger is projected to increase five times from the current 31,000 to a staggering 161,000, taking the number of those with emergency needs to 7.3 million by the end of 2022. “Unless we receive substantial new funding immediately, mass starvation and famine will follow. But if we act now, there is still a chance to avert imminent disaster and save millions,” World Food Programme Executive Director, David Beasley said.

On Saturday, UNICEF reported that 47 children have been killed or maimed in Yemen in the first two months of the year alone. Nearly 2.3 million children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition, and an additional 500,000 children suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition. The lack of food also endangers pregnant or nursing mothers, 1.3 million of whom are acutely malnourished, according to the newly released Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) analysis on Yemen. 

According to the IPC report, “conflict and economic crisis remain the main drivers of acute food insecurity and malnutrition in Yemen, further exacerbated by the instability of humanitarian assistance.” The conflict in Yemen escalated in 2015 when President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi was ousted by Houthi rebels, who in turn were partially defeated by a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Sunni Arab states. In 2021, the conflict intensified as a result of the Houthi offensive in oil-rich government stronghold Marib. The conflict has resulted in income instability, degradation of health, education and energy services and water shortage. 

The Ukrainian crisis also spells dire consequences for Yemen’s alarming food insecurity. Yemen is dependent on Ukraine for 30 percent of its wheat imports. The war in Ukraine has caused “significant import shocks” and higher prices in Yemen.

Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Qu Dongyu has reported that the agency is working directly with farmers to foster self-reliance and resilience and decrease import dependency. UNICEF requires $484.4 million this year to address Yemen’s humanitarian crisis. UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, David Gressly believes that to ameliorate the situation, “parties to the conflict should lift all restrictions on trade and investment for non-sanctioned commodities. This will help lower food prices and unleash the economy, giving people the dignity of a job and a path to move away from reliance on aid.”