GENEVA, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- More than 8.4 million people in Yemen are living on the edge of famine in the world's largest hunger crisis, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday, adding it needs more resources to feed them.
Herve Verhoosel, senior spokesperson for the WFP in Geneva, said that according to the Integrated Phase Classification scale, 8.4 million people are in "emergency phase", which means the situation is so dire these that people could fall into famine if they do not continue to receive adequate and sustained food and nutrition assistance.
The WFP noted that the number of people close to famine is increasing each day due to "causes entirely related to man-made conflict."
This number will increase sharply in the next projection, and could reach up to 14 million, said Verhoosel who noted that formally declaring a famine is based on the outcome of a scientific process.
"WFP currently has enough cereals in the country to assist 6.4 million of the hungriest Yemenis for two and a half months, and we aim to reach 8 million," he said.
Ensuring the free flow of both commercial and humanitarian food into the country is key to addressing the growing hunger crisis across the country, given that Yemen depends almost entirely on food imports, said the spokesperson.
As of mid-October, the WFP had several food shipments on their way to Yemen destined to various ports throughout the country and has started to use the port of Salalah, in neighboring Oman, as a supplementary route.
"In order to maintain and scale up crucial food assistance, WFP urgently needs a minimum 117 million U.S. dollars over the coming six months," said Verhoosel.
