Aid groups warn Yemen’s food crisis is becoming ‘catastrophic’

Aid groups are warning the food crisis in Yemen is reaching “catastrophic proportions,” with ongoing instability leaving 44 percent of people undernourished, as reported by The Guardian.

Read more from GlobalPost: Yemen vows to continue fighting 'war on terror'

A string of seven major humanitarian groups have issued a joint appeal for donations – one day ahead of today's international Friends of Yemen conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

The groups behind the drive are Care International, International Medical Corps, Islamic Relief, Mercy Corps, Merlin, Oxfam and Save the Children.

They say food insecurity in Yemen – brought about by political unrest, violent protests and the Islamic conflict in the south – means that 10 million people don't have enough to eat. This is either because they don't have access to food, or cannot afford it.

According to the aid groups, a further 5 million Yemenis are in need of emergency aid, with malnutrition rates having doubled since 2009.

The United Nations estimates that a third of Yemeni children, about 267,000, are malnourished, the BBC reported.

Oxfam's international director, Penny Lawrence, said:

"Yemeni families are at the brink and have exhausted their ways of coping with this crisis. Mothers are taking their children out of school to beg on the streets to get money to survive."

Read more from GlobalPost: Turkey's woman at the top 

The European Union on Monday said it would increase humanitarian funding to Yemen this year by five million euros (6.3 million dollars), Reuters reported.

The food crisis in Yemen, along with February's controversial transition of power, is expect to top the agenda at the Friends of Yemen conference.