WFP says millions in Yemen going hungry, warns of 'serious humanitarian situation'

"The U.N. World Food Programme [WFP] said Wednesday that more Yemenis were going hungry because of rising food prices and severe fuel shortages brought about by months of political unrest," Agence France-Presse reports. "The months of violence and instability have pushed the already stressed Yemeni economy to the brink of collapse and forced millions of families further into poverty," the news service writes, noting that "WFP … is expanding its services to help feed some 3.5 million of the most vulnerable people in Yemen" (10/12).

"Food prices in Yemen have risen dramatically since the beginning of this year, with the price of bread doubling in the past six months," the U.N. News Centre reports, adding, "A recent WFP assessment revealed that an increasing number of people are unable to meet their basic food needs" (10/12). According to a WFP press release, "Even before the crisis, more than 50 percent of Yemeni children were chronically malnourished and more than 13 percent were acutely malnourished" (10/12).