International network expects slight improvement in food access rates in Yemen during November

An international network expected a slight improvement in food access rates in Yemen, with the start of the seasonal harvest season starting this month.

“Some limited seasonal improvements in household access to food and income are expected in lowland areas, the eastern plateau and coastal areas of Yemen from the start of the main harvest in mid-November,” the Famine Early Warning Systems Network ( FEWS NET ) said in its July-September 2024 Q3 Bulletin on the impacts of the expanding conflict in the Middle East on food security in the region.

“Although the main harvest of sorghum, millet and maize is ongoing in the highlands of the country, the majority of households are still dependent on the market after years of protracted conflict and general macroeconomic contraction, which has devastated the agricultural sector and displaced families, ” she added.

However, the network stressed that food insecurity in Yemen remains "worrying" due to the multiple simultaneous shocks monitored by the famine early warning system, including the effects of the bombing of Red Sea ports and the current cholera outbreak.

The network pointed out that the state of severe food insecurity at the crisis level ( IPC Phase 3 ) or worse outcomes will remain widespread in all areas under the control of the Yemeni government until next January.

The international network indicated that the governorates under Houthi control, in the north of the country, as a result of the continued suspension of food aid distribution there, and the effects of the severe floods that those areas witnessed in previous months, will continue - during the period - the results of the state of acute food insecurity at the emergency level (phase four of the IPC 4 classification).