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UN relief agency warns of staple food price hikes in Yemen

Xinhua, July 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN relief agency reported that the price of wheat flour, a staple food, now costs more than double the pre-crisis price in some areas in Yemen, said a UN spokesperson here Wednesday.

Wheat flour and cooking gas are still in very short supply in Yemen, and prices are rising beyond the reach of many people, UN Associate Spokesperson Vannina Maestracci told a daily briefing, citing information given by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

She noted that "the price of cooking gas has risen up to 264 percent more in some governorates."

Last week, UN humanitarian aid chief Stephen O'Brien said that he is "even more deeply concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen" as a planned humanitarian ceasefire did not take place.

A recent food security assessment estimated the number of food- insecure people in Yemen at close to 13 million, according to World Food Program (WFP). This includes more than 6 million severely food insecure people who cannot survive without external assistance.

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food in emergencies and working with communities to build resilience.

A WFP ship carrying 500,000 liters of fuel for humanitarian operations on Wednesday arrived in Aden -- the first WFP-chartered vessel with fuel to berth in the southern port since conflict erupted in Yemen in late March, according to Maestracci.

The UN also announced Tuesday that a WFP ship carrying badly needed food assistance arrived in Aden.

A Saudi-led coalition has waged air strikes on Houthi rebels since late March in an effort to restore the authority of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Since then, more than 3,000 people have been killed. Endite