'Famine for millions': fears over growing Yemen food crisis

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST 2015
Half a million Yemeni children are suffering from "severe malnutrition", the UN's World Food Programme warns, as fears grow the country is heading towards famine.

The Yemeni conflict, between Houthi rebels and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh on one side and forces loyal to the government Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, tribal groups and a Saudi-led coalition on the other, has been raging since March.

We are being forced to live like rats.Abu Ibrahim, Yemeni resident

Before the conflict began, Yemen already had one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world, WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said.

But the "perfect storm" cause by the conflict, of a lack of food, clean water and fuel, means Yemen is facing the prospect of a "famine for millions".

'Famine for Millions' Fears Over Growing Yemen Food Crisis by Thavam Ratna