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Bread prices soar in Yemen due to Ukraine conflict

Russia's assault on Ukraine has further exacerbated Yemen's humanitarian crisis, raising bread and fuel prices as well as disrupting cooking oil supplies to the war-stricken country.

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Bread prices in Yemen have gone up by 35 percent as the country imports 42 percent of its grain from Ukraine.

Bread prices in Yemen have spiked up to 35 percent due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

The UK-based international humanitarian organisation Oxfam said on Thursday that Yemen imports 42 percent of its grain from Ukraine, but the Russian offensive on the country has disrupted the supplies of grain and cooking oil to the war-torn Arab country.

“The human cost of the war in Yemen is rising sharply as the conflict enters its eighth year, with the number of civilian deaths increasing sharply, hunger on the rise and three quarters of the population in urgent need of humanitarian support,” Oxfam said in a statement.

It added, “In Sanaa, bread went up 35 percent over the week that fighting broke out.”

Another crisis in Yemen that has been worsened by the conflict in Ukraine is the fuel crisis, Oxfam said.

“Seven long years of war have also caused a fuel crisis. Prices have risen 543 percent since 2019, trebling in just the last three months. Queues at petrol stations are so long that it can take three days to reach the forecourt,” it added.

Worst man-made humanitarian crisis

Russia's attack on Ukraine, which began on February 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US and UK among others implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 977 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 1,594 injured, according to UN estimates.

The UN is set to launch an appeal for an almost $4.3 billion aid package for war-stricken Yemen to help over 17 million people in the country.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The conflict has created one of the world's worst man-made humanitarian crises, with 23.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection and more than 19 million are in danger of starvation, according to latest UN estimates.

SOURCE: AA