Hunger is looming over Yemen, urgent action is needed

We can still avert starvation even as the country faces the worst outlook in years. Published On 14 Mar 2026While international attention is focused on the conflict in Iran and its regional spillover, a devastating crisis in Yemen is drawing almost no notice. The Yemeni people are starving in silence. More than half the population, 18 million people, is projected to face worsening levels of food insecurity in early 2026. To grasp the scale of this crisis, imagine the entire population of the Netherlands going hungry.In a survey conducted by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) last year, nearly every respondent identified food as their most urgent need, with almost 80 percent of families reporting severe hunger. These are not isolated hardships, but a widespread reality shaping daily survival across communities.Our findings echo the most recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projections, which warn that another one million people are currently at risk of slipping into life-threatening hunger, classified as IPC Phase 3+. IPC Phase 3 and above means families are routinely missing meals, relying on debt, and selling off what little they have left— jewellery, livestock, tools, even doors and cooking gas cylinders—to buy food. It also means children are more likely to become acutely malnourished, and illnesses that would normally be survivable become deadly.Even more alarming, pockets of famine affecting more than 40,000 people are expected to emerge across four districts within the next two months, marking Yemen’s bleakest food security outlook since 2022. For many families, meals have become a daily ration of bread and water. For others, adults go without food so their children can eat.