FAO: Severe Food Insecurity In 8 Houthi-Controlled Yemeni Governorates

A cook works at a kitchen in Aden, Yemen, October 2, 2021. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman
A cook works at a kitchen in Aden, Yemen, October 2, 2021. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman
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FAO: Severe Food Insecurity In 8 Houthi-Controlled Yemeni Governorates

A cook works at a kitchen in Aden, Yemen, October 2, 2021. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman
A cook works at a kitchen in Aden, Yemen, October 2, 2021. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman

Eight Houthi-controlled governorates in Yemen suffer from severe food insecurity, according to a household survey released this week by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through the Data in Emergencies Monitoring System.

“Nearly 54 percent of the households experienced hardships due to food shortages and adopted food consumption-based coping strategies,” the alarming survey revealed, adding that families residing in governorates controlled by Houthi militias frequently adopted coping strategies and were eating less preferred foods and limiting portion size at mealtimes.

The survey showed that those families were borrowing money, buying food on credit, selling household assets and reducing health expenses.

“The proportion of households resorting to emergency coping strategies is alarming and has increased from the previous rounds,” the survey said.

In Hodeidah, Al Jawf, Al Mahwit, Amran, Dhamar, Hajjah, Saadah, Sanaa and Taiz, over one-third of the households resorted to emergency coping strategies.

This fourth-round survey reached 2,452 households through computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) conducted from 29 March to 30 April 2022. Households were surveyed across all 22 governorates of Yemen.

It said that the Hajjah governorate had a high prevalence of food insecurity, hunger and inadequate diet and that Hodeidah, Al Jawf, Al Mahwit, Amran, Dhamar, Ibb and Sanaa had a high prevalence of food insecurity.

FAO’s collected data revealed that 75 percent of livestock producers reported difficulties, including access to feed at the market (67 percent), animal diseases or deaths (35 percent) and access to pasture (30 percent).

It also said that of the producers selling livestock and livestock products, 66 percent faced difficulties.

As for the most reported difficulty, FAO cited the access to fuel due to its high price.

It said that 93 percent of fishery households reported difficulties with fishery and aquaculture production.

Additionally, nearly 66 percent of the households reported a decrease in income, of which 32 percent reported that the decrease was less than half when compared to the same period in a typical year.

In Abyan, Ad Dali, Aden, Al Bayda, Hodeidah, Al Mahwit, Amran, Dhamar, Haijah, Ibb, Lahj, Raymah and Sanaa city, over 60 percent of the households reported a decrease in income.

Concerning crops, 76 percent of crop producers faced difficulties during crop production. Of those, 59 percent cited insufficient irrigation or rainwater.

Of the crop producers, 37 percent reported a decrease in the area planted, and 55 percent expected a reduced harvest compared to a typical year.

The household hunger scale (HHS) estimated that 38 percent of the households are experiencing moderate to severe hunger.

As per the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), 43 percent consumed three to four food groups per day, and 22 percent had very low dietary diversity of less than two food groups per day.

The Food Consumption Score (FCS) estimated a 45 percent prevalence of inadequate food consumption (borderline and poor) of which 22 percent experienced poor food consumption.



Israeli Airstrikes Kill 23 in Gaza as Outcry over Aid Blockade Grows

 A UN worker and displaced Palestinians stand amid the rubble of an UNRWA school-turned-shelter, heavily damaged in an overnight Israeli strike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 10, 2025. (AFP)
A UN worker and displaced Palestinians stand amid the rubble of an UNRWA school-turned-shelter, heavily damaged in an overnight Israeli strike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Airstrikes Kill 23 in Gaza as Outcry over Aid Blockade Grows

 A UN worker and displaced Palestinians stand amid the rubble of an UNRWA school-turned-shelter, heavily damaged in an overnight Israeli strike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 10, 2025. (AFP)
A UN worker and displaced Palestinians stand amid the rubble of an UNRWA school-turned-shelter, heavily damaged in an overnight Israeli strike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 10, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Saturday killed at least 23 Palestinians in Gaza, including three children and their parents whose tent was bombed in Gaza City, health officials said.

The bombardment continued as international warnings grow over Israeli plans to control aid distribution in Gaza as Israel's blockade on the territory of over 2 million people is in its third month.

The UN and aid groups have rejected Israel’s aid distribution moves, including a plan from a group of American security contractors, ex-military officers and humanitarian aid officials calling itself the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Among the 23 bodies brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours were those of the family of five whose tent was struck in Gaza City’s Sabra district, Gaza's Health Ministry said.

Another Israeli strike late Friday hit a warehouse belonging to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in the northern area of Jabaliya. Four people were killed, according to the Indonesian Hospital, where bodies were taken.

AP video showed fires burning in the shattered building. The warehouse was empty after being hit and raided multiple times during Israeli ground offensives against Hamas fighters over the past year, said residents including Hamza Mohamed.

Israel's military said nine soldiers were lightly wounded Friday night by an explosive device while searching Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood. It said they were evacuated to a hospital in Israel.

Israel resumed its bombardment in Gaza on March 18, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Ground troops have seized more than half the territory and have been conducting raids and searching parts of northern Gaza and the southernmost city of Rafah. Large parts of both areas have been flattened by months of Israeli operations.

Under Israel's blockade, charity kitchens are virtually the only source of food left in Gaza, but dozens have shut down in recent days as food supplies run out. Aid groups say more closures are imminent. Israel has said the blockade is meant to pressure Hamas to release remaining hostages and disarm. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.

Israel accuses Hamas and other armed groups of siphoning off aid in Gaza, though it hasn’t presented evidence for its claims. The UN denies significant diversion takes place, saying it monitors distribution.

The 19-month-old war in Gaza is the most devastating ever fought between Israel and Hamas. It has killed more than 52,800 people there, more than half of them women and children, and wounded more than 119,000, according to the Health Ministry. The ministry's count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed thousands of militants, without giving evidence.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which gunmen killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped over 250 others. Hamas still holds about 59 hostages, with around a third believed to still be alive.