OveralworseningoffoodsecurityindicatorsacrossthecountryasconflictandeconomiccrisiscontinuetoaffectYemenipopulation Keypoints InOctober,levelsofpoorfoodconsumptionincreasedespecialyinconflictaffectedgovernorates Theuseofnegativecopingstrategiesreachesthehighestlevelssince2016 Foodassistancecontinuestobetheprimarysourceoffoodofmorethanathirdofthedisplacedpopulation. Situationupdate InOctober,thesecuritysituationinAlHudaydahcontinuedtodeteriorateandremainsexceptionalyfragile.ThespaceforhumanitarianactivitydecreasedasfightingbetweenSaudi-ledcoalitionforcesandHouthiforcesaroundAlHudaydahintensifies.MeanwhileUS officialscaledforacessationofhostilitiesinyemenandhaveannouncedpossiblerenewedpeacetalks,expectedtobeheldinswedeninnovember2018. TherapidanduncontroleddepreciationoftheYemeniRialsinceearlySeptemberhasledtoasharpincreaseinthepriceofbasicfoodcommoditiesresultinginafurtherdeteriorationofthealreadydirefoodsecuritysituationinYemen.Thecurrencydepreciatedby47 percentagainsttheusdolarinoneyear(october2017 October2018),ofwhich20percentofitsvaluewaslostoverthecourseofthelastmonth.Thecostsofabasicfoodbasketincreased25percentandfuelcostsbyasmuchas45percentinhard-hitareas. Ifthecurrenttrendcontinuesithasbeenestimatedthatanadditional3to5.6milionYemeniscouldbecomeseverelyfoodinsecureinthecomingmonths,pushingthenumberofseverelyfoodinsecurepeopleupto14milioninaworst-casescenario. AccordingtoWHO,thenumberofcholeracaseshassurgedreaching15,201suspectedcasesand38associateddeathsduringtheweekof17-23Octoberalone,withAmran,AlHudaydah,Dhamar,Sana aandsana acitygovernoratesbeingthemostaffectedareas.asmany as1.2milionadditionalyemenisarelikelytorequireurgentwashintervention. Sources:OCHAHumanitarianUpdateIssue30 MarketWatchReportIssue28
InOctober2018,mVAM conductedthe38throundofhouseholdfoodsecuritymonitoringinyemenvialivetelephoneinterviews.datawerecolectedbetween1stand30thoctober.responsesarelikelytobebiasedtowardsyounger,somewhatbetter-off householdswholiveinurbanareasandhavebetteraccesstoelectricityandphone-chargingservices.sincehouseholdswithmorephonesaremorelikelytobeselected,thefindingsofthisreportareweightedbythenumberofsim cardsheldbyhouseholds.theyare alsoweightedbypopulationestimatesforidpsandnon-idps.themapspresentasnapshotofhouseholdfoodconsumptionpatternsatthetimeofdatacolectionanddonotrepresenttheprevalenceoffoodinsecurityatpopulationlevel(asisthecaseforipcmaps). Detailsonmethodologyareavailableonline. HouseholdsSurveyed 2,408 Averageageof 40 Displacementstatus 66.9% Non-IDP 33.1% IDP GenderHeadofHousehold 2.5% Female 97.5% Male
Poorfoodconsumptioncontinuestodeteriorateinconflictaffectedgovernorates Map1: % ofhouseholdswithpoororborderlinefoodconsumption ClickononeormoregovernoratesonthemaptogetthecorrespondentFigures1and2 Thenationalmeanfoodconsumptionscore(FCS)decreasedforthefourthconsecutivemonthreachinginOctober(47.7)thelowestlevelssinceApril2018(Figure1).Thiswasmainly drivenbyanoveralsignificantincreaseoffourpercentagepointsintheshareofhouseholdswithpoorfoodconsumption.asshowninfigure2,inoctober42percentofthe surveyedhouseholdsreportedhavinganinadequatefoodconsumptionbrokendownto15percentpoorand27percentborderlinefoodconsumption. ThenegativechangeinFCSwasobservedinalmostalthegovernoratesanditwasmainlyduetoasignificantdeteriorationinthegovernoratesdirectlyaffectedbythecurrent conflictanddisplacement:alhudaydah(from 56.6inSeptemberto54.4inOctober),Hajah(from 48inSeptemberto44inOctober),Taizz(from 46.4inSeptemberto43.3in October)andRaymah(from 40.6inSeptemberto37.3inOctober).ThelowestFCSwasrecordedinRaymahwhere60percentofthesurveyedhouseholdswasfoundtohave inadequatefoodconsumption. OctobermVAM datasuggestthatthecurrentdeteriorationofthesituationinyemenisaffectingsimilarlybothdisplacedandresidentpopulationhowevernon-displaced householdshaveexperiencedthemostnegativechangewiththepercentageofhouseholdswithpoorfoodconsumptionincreasingsignificantlyfrom 11percentinSeptemberto15 percentinoctober(figure3).likewise,amongidpsthepercentageofhouseholdswithpoorfoodconsumptionincreasedfrom 12percentinSeptemberto17percentinOctober bringingthetotalshareofinadequatefoodconsumptionamongidpstoalmost50percent. 1-3 3-5 >5 Figure1:MeanFCS,2016-2017-2018 Figure2.Percentageofhouseholdswithpoorandborderlinefoodconsumption,May2018- October2018 Figure3:HouseholdswithpoorandborderlineFoodConsumptionby: DisplacementStatus 60.0 40.0 20.0 0.0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 47.9 44.3 44.0 46.0 45.0 45.0 43.7 44.4 47.4 46.7 43.4 54.9 47.0 42.6 59.6 45.6 59.9 43.0 53.8 46.8 44.7 53.5 47.0 46.9 50.0 44.4 43.9 47.7 41.9 44.6 43.7 43.2 16.7% 15.8% 21.4% 22.8% 8.4% 7.3% 25.5% May2018 June2018 July2018 August2018 September 2018 26.8% 11.1% 14.9% October2018 29.3% 26.6% 17.1% 14.7% IDP Non-IDP 2016 2017 2018 BorderlineFC PoorFC BorderlineFC PoorFC
Useofnegativefoodbasedcopingstrategiesreachalarminglevels Map2:rCSIbygovernorate,October2018 ClickononeormoregovernoratesonthemaptogetthecorrespondentFigures4and5 InOctober,thenationalmeanrCSIincreasedfrom 21.9inSeptemberto23.7asthereportedseverityoftheadoptedcopingmechanismsbyhouseholdsroseacrossYemen(Figure 4).Thisisthehighestleveleverrecordedsince2016.Thisdeteriorationisdrivenbyanincreasedpercentageofhouseholdreportinghavingtobuylessexpensiveorpreferredfood (+5percent),limitingthesizeortheirmealsportion(+4percent),reducingthenumberofmealseatenperday(+4percent)andrestrictingconsumptionbyadultsinorderforsmal childrentoeat(+6percent). Thistrendhasbeenobservedinalmostalthegovernoratesacrossthecountry.MeanrCSIhassignificantlyincreasedinAlMahwit(from 23.8inSeptemberto29.2inOctober), Dhamar(from 22.7inSeptemberto25.6inOctober),Sa'dah(from 17.7inSeptemberto22.9inOctober),Taizz(from 21.7inSeptemberto24inOctober)andRaymah(from 19.6in Septemberto28.4inOctober).RaymahandHajah(27.2)continuetoreportthehighestrCSI.Mostofthegovernorates(19outof22governorates)reportedameanrCSImoreor equalthan19,correspondingtoipcphase3orabove(map2). Asinthepreviousrounds,displacedhouseholdsresortmorenegativecopingstrategiesthannon-displacedhouseholds.However,inOctoberthegaphasbeenreducedasthemean rcsiofnon-displacedhouseholdsincreasednegativelyfrom 21.4inSeptemberto23.4inOctober.Thisismainlyduetoasignificantincreaseintheshareofresidenthouseholds havingtobuyleesexpensivefood(+6percent),limitportionsizes(+4percent),reducethenumberofmeals(+4percent)andrestrictadultconsumptionforchildrentoeat(+7 percent)sinceseptember(figure6). Aroundathirdofthedisplacedhouseholdsreportedrelyingonfoodassistanceastheirprimarysourceoffoodwhilethemajorityofnon-displacedhouseholdsthemainsourceof foodremainpurchasefrom market. 4-18 >=19 Figure4:MeanrCSI,2016-2017-2018 Figure5:PercentageofhouseholdsusingnegativecopingstrategiesinOctober2018 Figure6:Percentageofhouseholdsusingnegativecopingstrategiesby: DisplacementStatus 30 20 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 19.3 21.2 21.3 20.8 21.0 20.8 22.4 22.0 21.4 22.1 22.3 20.6 21.6 22.6 19.5 22.0 18.1 21.2 20.9 19.8 20.9 22.1 20.4 21.0 21.0 21.9 21.9 20.3 23.7 21.6 21.1 21.7 21.8 10 8 81.9% 81.6% 72.6% 60.5% 73.2% 10 8 Lessexpensive food 81.7% 84.4% LimitportionsizesReducenumberof meals 87.1% 81.1% 80.5% Borrow Food 71.9% 70.8% Restrictadults consumption 72.7% 79.9% 59.6% 10 0 2016 2017 2018 Lessexpensive food Limitportionsizes Reducenumberof meals Borrow Food Restrictadults consumption IDP Non-IDP
Householdswereaskedtosharetheirthoughtsonthemain issuesaffectingthefoodsecuritysituationintheircommunities. Inthegraphicbelow,themaintopicsmentionedbyhouseholds areviewablebyhoveringoverthegovernorates.responsescan alsobefilteredbydisplacementstatus. Unemployment 33% Thesituationisverybadaswearenotreceivingsalariesandtheprices continuetoriseandareextremelyhighafterthedepreciationofthe curency. Non-displacedmaleheadofhousehold Abyan Thefoodsituationisverypoorandweneedassistanceaswedon thave anyincomeandmoneytobuyenoughfood. IDPfemaleheadofhouseholds-Sa ada. Foodismostlynotavailableinthemarketandthepricesaresohighthat wecannotafordtobuywhatthefamilyneedsaswelosteverysourceof income. Displacedmaleheadofhousehold-AlHudaydha. Low income/salaries Currency Business interruption DisplacementStatus NonIDPs IDPs 67% HighPrices Foodunavailablity assistance WarSeige
Forfurtherinformation Endalkachew Alamnew endalkachew.alamnew@wfp.org RomeHQ ArifHusain ChiefEconomist&DeputyDirector PolicyandProgrammeDivision arif.husain@wfp.org JonathanRivers Head,mVAM jonathan.rivers@wfp.org RESOURCES mvam Monitoringweb: http:/vam.wfp.org/sites/mvam_monitoring/ VAM ResourceCentre http:/resources.vam.wfp.org/mvam Blog http:/mvam.org/ Toolkit: http:/resources.vam.wfp.org/mvam Twitter https:/twitter.com/mobilevam