FAO: Yemen may face a "catastrophic" situation in food security
English - Tuesday 19 May 2020 الساعة 12:49 am
Aden, Newsyemen
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday that Yemen, already driven by a five-year-old war to the brink of starvation, may face a "catastrophic" food security situation due to an outbreak of the Coruna virus and declining remittances from Gulf workers.
"The health system has already been under great pressure and its capacity will decline now if Covid-19 continues to spread and will, in addition, affect the movement of people and goods," Abdel Salam Ould Ahmed, Assistant Director-General of FAO and its Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa, told Reuters.
"The situation may indeed be disastrous if all elements of the worst scenario materialize, but let's hope it does not happen and the United Nations is working to avoid this," he added.
Yemen, along with Syria and Sudan, are the most vulnerable countries in the Middle East in terms of food security.
The UN agency said in a report on Monday that general isolation measures to prevent the spread of the virus are likely to affect humanitarian supply chains that provide food to a large portion of the population.
The internationally recognized government recorded 128 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 20 deaths in the areas it controlled.
The World Health Organization said on Monday that the virus was spreading unattended, increasing the risk of it spreading among the undernourished population, beyond the capacity of the health system with its limited screening capabilities.
There are currently about 15.9 million Yemenis under the category of food insecure among the population of 28 million.
FAO currently does not have estimates of what this number might reach if the disease continues to spread, but continues to monitor the situation.
The United States said on May 6 that it would provide 225 million dollars to the World Food Program for Yemen, including shrinking operations in the north.
The program said it would cut aid in half in Houthi-controlled areas from mid-April, due to donor concerns that the group might disrupt aid distribution.
The FAO said that Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, would also be affected by an expected decrease in workers ’remittances in the Gulf states, which amounted to about $ 3.8 billion in 2019.
"This is a great source of income for the country, and it may decrease significantly," said Walid Ahmed.
Many workers in the energy-rich Gulf region have either lost their jobs, been forced into unpaid vacations or have been cut their salaries due to an outbreak of the Coronavirus and lower oil prices.
"Without peace, we will continue to face the difficulties of food insecurity and there will be no recovery in the long run," said the FAO.
