UN: Yemen sliding into hunger crisis

25 September 2012, 14:38 (GMT+05:00)

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Yemen is descending into a humanitarian emergency situation, as almost half of the country's 24 million people are facing hunger, the UN food agency warned Tuesday in Geneva dpa reported

The Arab country is affected by rising international food prices, because it imports nearly all key staples like wheat and sugar.

"Yemen is facing a deteriorating humanitarian crisis with high food and fuel prices, rising poverty, a breakdown of social services, diminishing resources, internal conflict and political instability," the World Food Programme (WFP) said.

Nearly half of the country's children below the age of 5 suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition.

The WFP said it was planning to provide aid to 5.5 million people in Yemen by the end of the year.