10.6 million Yemenis face food insecurity as conflict escalates

NaijaAgroNet 

    

About 10.6 million Yemenis are now severely food insecure, of which 4.8 million are facing "emergency" conditions, suffering from severe lack of food access, very high and increasing malnutrition, and irreversible destruction of livelihoods, NaijaAgroNet reports.

NaijaAgroNET also gathered that escalating conflict at a crucial time in the country’s cropping season, almost 11 million people in Yemen are severely food insecure and millions more are at risk of not meeting their basic food needs, FAO said today, 15^th March, 2015.

According to FAO Representative for Yemen, Salah Hajj Hassan “We are entering a crucial period for crop production in Yemen and now, more than ever, agriculture cannot be an afterthought if we want to prevent more people from becoming food insecure amidst this crisis,”

NaijaAgroNet was also reliably informed that in the organization's latest assessment, increasing conflict in nearly all major towns across the country is disrupting markets and trade, driving up local food prices and hampering agricultural production, including land preparation and planting for the 2015 maize and sorghum harvests.

More than half of Yemen’s population – some 16 million out of a total of 26 million— is in need of some form of humanitarian aid and has no access to safe water.

The latest escalation of conflicts is expected to further increase food insecurity in the poverty-stricken country. Paradoxically, some 2.5 million food producers, including farmers, pastoralists, fishermen and agricultural wage labourers, are among those identified as food insecure, NaijaAgroNet learnt.

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54m kids under 5-yrs in Africa go hungry-AUC

NaijaAgroNet:

The African Union Commission (AUC) has said that over 54 million kids in Africa under the age of five years go hungry and urged leaders in Africa  to work together to tackle malnutrition and under-development on the continent, NaijaAgroNet reports.

The AUC made this disclosure as the African leaders, agriculture and nutrition experts from the private and public sector marked this year’s Africa Food and Nutrition Security Day in Niamey, Niger, to tackle malnutrition and under-development on the continent.

The AUC Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, H.E Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, said “The African Union Commission accords special importance to this year’s day as a prelude to 2014 the AU declared Year of Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Security and also marking the 10th anniversary of the comprehensive Africa agriculture development programme. 

Peace said that the day remains an opportunity for all AU member states, governments and partners to heighten awareness and reinforce commitment to accelerating the collective efforts towards a food and nutrition secure Africa, while the Africa Agenda 2063 will be considered for adoption by AU heads of state and government at their summit to be held in January next year.

The Chief Executive Officer of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Agency, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, said “Proven solutions for food and nutrition security challenges already exist and needed to be replicated. The era of pilot projects is long gone and it is now time to take action.  The private sector is a valuable partner in the fight against malnutrition whereas civil society remains our most important voice of conscience”.

AN/GEE

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