Coronavirus: Yemen faces hunger crisis as families lose income

Hunger is on the rise in Yemen due to families losing the majority or half of their income as coronavirus spreads around the war-torn country, the Norwegian Refugee Council said on Wednesday.

The country has recorded over 1,600 infected cases of the virus and 456 deaths since the pandemic began.

Yet since the first coronavirus patient was reported in April, the true scale of the outbreak has been impossible to determine.

A survey conducted by NRC found that one in four vulnerable families have lost all their income since the pandemic hit the country in April.

It showed that 94 per cent of families reported food as a top concern and almost half of respondents said they lost at least half of their income, just as prices for food and water also went up.

“The coronavirus pandemic, coming on top of a lethal confluence of other challenges, has accelerated the misery of the poorest nation in the region, with more families already in poverty earning even less and facing more hunger,” NRC’s Country Director for Yemen, Mohamed Abdi said in a statement.

“The families we spoke to were already on the edge of survival and now almost all of them tell us their situation is worse," Mr Abdi said.

The United Nations said that Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with some 24 million people there - that's about 80 per cent of the population - dependent on aid to survive, and millions are on the brink of starvation.

Families interviewed by NRC said they had to flee their homes due to the war and are now living in inadequate, overcrowded conditions.

Yet people are now working for low-paid jobs to support their families.

“Our main meal is bread and tea,” said Abdulrahman, a former fisherman from Hodeidah who was surviving on aid and from labouring work that has now dried up. “Even potatoes are out of reach.”

Never before have Yemenis faced so many threats at once, and all this at the height of a devastating pandemic, Mr Abdi said.

The humanitarian official called for a ceasefire and for the fighting to stop as well as rescue package for the millions of displaced people.