Acute food insecurity deepens in the Government-controlled areas of Yemen amid severe funding cuts and economic downturn
Aden, 22 June 2025 – The food security situation in the Government-controlled areas of southern Yemen is dire, with nearly half of the population acutely food insecure and struggling to find their next meal. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), and UNICEF have warned that the food insecurity crisis is likely to worsen in the months ahead.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partial update, released today, paints a grim picture for southern governorates. Between May 2025 and August 2025, around 4.95 million people are facing Crisis-level food insecurity or worse (IPC Phase 3+), including 1.5 million in Emergency (IPC Phase 4). This marks an increase of 370,000 people suffering from severe food insecurity compared to the period November 2024 to February 2025.
Looking ahead, the situation is expected to deteriorate even further. Between September 2025 and February 2026, an additional 420,000 people could fall into IPC Phase 3 or worse, if urgent and sustained assistance is not provided. That would bring the total number of severely food-insecure people in southern governorate areas to 5.38 million—more than half of the population.
Multiple overlapping crises continue to drive food insecurity, including sustained economic decline, currency depreciation in southern governorates, conflict, and increasingly severe weather events. The delayed planting season, heightened likelihood of flood risk in July, and the spread of plant and livestock diseases, especially desert locusts, are further expected to compound pressures on an already fragile situation.
Humanitarian actors including UNICEF, WFP, and FAO are reprioritizing their humanitarian efforts in Yemen, targeting high-risk areas with integrated interventions in food security, nutrition, WASH, health and protection sectors to maximize lifesaving impact.
“The fact that more and more people in Yemen don’t know where their next meal will come from is extremely concerning at a time when we are experiencing unprecedented funding challenges,” said Siemon Hollema, the Deputy Country Director of WFP in Yemen. “Immediate support is needed to ensure that we can continue to serve the most vulnerable families that have nowhere else to turn.”
The agencies are urgently calling for sustained and at-scale humanitarian and livelihoods support assistance to prevent communities from falling deeper into food insecurity, ensure access to essential services and generate economic and livelihood opportunities.
Dr. Hussein Gadain, FAO Representative in Yemen, emphasized, "The situation is dire and requires urgent intervention, with agriculture holding the key to ending Yemen’s food insecurity crisis. Further, delayed and insufficient rainfall in April has cast a shadow over the current planting season, threatening the already fragile farming livelihoods and food availability. With urgent support, we can revitalize local food production, safeguard livelihoods, and move from crisis to resilience building ensuring, efficiency and effectiveness."
Internally displaced persons, low-income rural households and vulnerable children are particularly affected, facing increased vulnerability due to funding cuts, declining livelihood opportunities, and reduced coping mechanisms.
Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative to Yemen, highlighted that “Approximately 2.4 million children under the age of five and 1.5 million pregnant and lactating women suffer from acute malnutrition in Yemen, placing them at greater risk of illness, developmental delays, and death.” “The IPC nutrition data suggests further deterioration in at least 5 out of 17 of the livelihood zones in IRG areas, so UNICEF and partners are making provisions to scale up intervention which needs to be sustained if we are going to overcome the crisis,” added Peter Hawkins.
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About FAO: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With over 194 members, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.
Follow FAO Yemen on X for more: @FAOYemen
About the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP): WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability, and prosperity for people recovering from conflict and disasters.
Follow us on Twitter @WFPYemen
About UNICEF:
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
For more information about UNICEF Yemen and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org/yemen
