The UN World Food Programme (WFP) office in Yemen is launching a programme to offset the high prices of food staples, which are hitting millions of food-insecure Yemenis.
The budget is US$30 million and the operation is set to start within a few weeks in eight out of Yemen’s 21 governorates.
"We have now a new emergency programme to address specifically the problem of food prices. It addresses the needs of about 700,000 people, with the focus on children between two and five and pregnant women. These are the categories of people considered most affected by the food price hikes," Mohammed El-Kouhene, WFP representative in Yemen, told IRIN.
He said WFP was discussing with the government how to harmonise the distribution of 500,000 tonnes of wheat donated by the United Arab Emirates.
The operation is planned for one year and by the end of 2009 WFP will assess the situation and determine the need for continued assistance. It includes distributing food for pregnant/lactating mothers and children under two, targeting 200,000 people.
The objective of the operation is to mitigate the impact of high food prices and reduce acute malnutrition.
One of the world's poorest countries, Yemen ranked 153rd out of 177 on the Human Development Index 2007-08. Recently, it was placed by WFP among 30 countries most affected by worldwide food price hikes.
According to The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2006 Report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Yemen has very high levels of food insecurity: more than one-third of its population is chronically undernourished.
The FAO report said the number of hungry people increased from 4.2 million in 1990–92 to 7.1 million in 2001–03, and the proportion of undernourished people in the population from 34 to 37 percent.
The country falls among the low-income grouping and is highly dependent on food imports. According to WFP, Yemen imports about 75 percent of its food.
Impact on education
El-Kouhene said the soaring prices of food had an impact on children’s education: "When food prices go up, people spend most of their money on food - up to 65 to 70 percent of their income. It has to be at the expense of health and education."
WFP has a programme to keep girls in school, whereby they receive food rations. The programme targets 96,000 girls in 1,300 schools, the WFP official said. The programme, which will end in 2011, will provide nearly 75,000 tonnes of food, at a cost of $54.2 million.
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