Disruptions at three major maritime chokepoints are driving up global food and energy prices and could push millions more people into hunger, the acting head of the World Food Programme has warned.
Carl Skau's comments come as world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly this week, where they will discuss their priorities for the coming year.
Mr Skau told The National that the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab Al Mandeb strait and the Black Sea were areas of particular concern, as conflict and escalating tension disrupted maritime trade and increased costs worldwide.
“We see three concerning chokepoints right now that are driving up food prices across the world,” he said. “All those three are causing disruptions to maritime trade, which is pushing up price of energy and of food."
The effect has been particularly severe in vulnerable countries where households already spend much of their income on food, Mr Skau said. He warned that the resulting global price shock meant “we will see millions more going hungry".
“In Yemen right now, with tens of thousands of newly displaced – they are the most immediately impacted from this escalation," he said. "But it's also impacting millions across the world due to this global shock that it's causing."
The escalation in the Yemen conflict comes as hunger is already worsening across the country. More than 18 million people, about half of the population, face acute food insecurity. About 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished, including half a million experiencing severe acute malnutrition, its most life-threatening form, according to WFP.
The country imports about 90 per cent of its food, leaving families highly exposed to interruptions in trade, supply chains and markets.
The most recent fighting, which erupted this month, has allowed the Houthi rebels to expand their control along Yemen’s western coast, giving the group control over the strategic Bab Al Mandeb, which links the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
The Houthis last month declared an “embargo” on Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen’s internationally recognised government, and have since launched attacks on Saudi ships, oil sites, cities and military bases.
Mr Skau urged member states to increase diplomatic efforts to end existing conflicts and prevent new ones.
“Member states need to come together, deploy their political diplomacy to end these conflicts, prevent new ones from arising, and also ensure that international humanitarian law is respected,” he said.
He also called for humanitarian access to the most vulnerable and for the safety and security of frontline aid workers to be protected.
