WFP warns hunger is surging in Yemen as conflict displaces thousands

Context and food security situation

• Renewed fighting has displaced more than 149,000 people, according to IOM. Many of those had already experienced displacement due to the conflict.
• Food is among the top necessities for newly displaced families.
• Recent WFP monitoring in accessible areas found that 74 percent of households were unable to meet their basic food needs. This is a record number for this year and indicates food security is significantly deteriorating.
• Across Yemen, 18.3 million people face acute food insecurity. Some 2.2 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, including 500,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition.
• Some communities can only access in-kind aid, rather than cash assistance, because access to markets is limited or impossible near displacement sites.
• The deterioration comes as conflict and rising prices further constrain food access. Wheat flour prices have increased by 10 percent in only two weeks in parts of Ta’iz, while traders estimate that wheat stocks cover only two months of demand. Disruptions to vegetable oil supplies are adding further pressure to already elevated food prices.
• Yemen imports around 90 percent of its food, leaving families highly exposed to disruptions in trade, shipping and supply chains.
• Further instability along the west coast and around the Bab al-Mandab corridor risks driving food prices even higher and deepening food insecurity in Yemen and across the wider region.

WFP operations and response

• WFP is scaling food assistance for newly displaced families and plans to reach up to 1.5 million people if needed, but rapidly depleting relief stocks risk widening assistance gaps.
• WFP has already assisted more than 70,000 people across two of the biggest displacement hotspots in Ta’iz and in Lahj.
• In September, WFP reached more people with ready-to-eat food rations than in any other month in 2026, driven by critical emergency needs.
• WFP is prepositioning stocks in key displacement hotspots and is prepared to scale up its emergency response reach to up to 1.5 million people, if the conflict intensifies and triggers further displacement.
• The life-saving support to newly displaced families is happening as WFP continues to assist around 2.4 million people facing severe hunger across Government of Yemen areas.
• The humanitarian consequences are already being felt beyond Yemen's borders. In Djibouti, thousands of people fleeing the conflict have crossed the Bab al-Mandab Strait seeking safety. More than 3,700 people had arrived by late September, placing additional pressure on already stretched humanitarian services and reception facilities. WFP and partners are supporting the response alongside Djiboutian authorities. 

Resourcing and operational challenges

• Seventy-three UN personnel remain detained by Houthi de facto authorities, including 38 WFP colleagues. WFP joins the UN Secretary General in calling for their immediate and unconditional release.
• The escalating emergency is placing additional pressure on already stretched resources for WFP’s Yemen operation. Any further increase in humanitarian needs will lead to wider gaps in assistance for vulnerable families who were struggling even before the latest escalation.
• To sustain the immediate response, WFP has reallocated resources from food assistance distributions scheduled for November. Without renewed funding, already vulnerable people will begin facing assistance gaps within the next month.
• Conflict has cut off access to parts of Ta’iz and Hodeidah, preventing WFP and its partners from reaching approximately 350,000 people. Insecurity, disrupted transport routes and rising delivery costs are making it increasingly difficult to move food to frontline areas.
• WFP requires USD 109 million to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance for up to 1.5 million people affected by the escalation. And USD 158 million to sustain its regular operations including food, cash, nutrition support, and school meals for 2.4 million people through March 2027.

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The United Nations World Food Programme 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, disasters and the impact of weather extremes.

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