( CNN ) -- More than 10 million people -- almost one in two men , women and children -- in Yemen -- are facing a looming catastrophe . Families are surviving , but only just . Food and fuel price spikes , coupled with political instability , have left Yemen 's economy in tatters . As is often the case , ordinary people are bearing the brunt of this crisis and have exhausted their options for coping with the extreme challenges that they face . Despite a new president and a political transition process underway , the humanitarian crisis continues to deteriorate . The economy has not recovered and food prices have not come down . In Hodeidah , a western port governorate where the largely rural population relies upon agriculture and fishing for livelihoods , the farming has dropped to a third of its normal production . Fishermen , large and small-scale farms , alike , can not afford the diesel necessary to power their engines and water pumps -- even when it is available in the market . Many people lost their jobs during the political turmoil last year , at a time when food prices were skyrocketing . Like many families in Yemen with no alternatives , Mariam 's sons left her and their young children to migrate to Saudi Arabia for work . She is 60 years old and sits in a one room hut which she built , together with her children , 10 years ago . She now shares it with her seven grandchildren . She tells me that like many others in the village , her sons were day laborers , and forced to migrate illegally to Saudi Arabia to look for work . ''My three sons are now in Saudi . They went searching jobs after they lost their jobs here . They have n't sent us any money yet . Last time , one called me saying that they could n't find work and they are still being pursued by the Saudi police . He was saying that he wo n't send us money this month and asked us to find a way to keep going until they get a job . '' Many families talk about selling off their few assets , skipping meals for two to three days at a time and pulling their children from school to just survive . With all of their neighbors in the same level of crisis , and the effects of the crises expected to deteriorate further , ordinary Yemenis have exhausted their options . Over the past year , one in three Yemenis purchased food on credit , and one in four are still falling further into food-related debt . Mariam describes with utmost fatigue how she turned towards creditors as a last resort : `` We live on 'please give me , ' ' lend me until tomorrow , ' 'please wait until God gives me help to return your money ' ; this is our life now . '' But the creditors and traders can not continue to have stock go out without money coming in . They have started to turn away families . Samia , mother of five , told me about her desperation at being turned away from the trader with tears in her eyes and her very sick child in her arms . `` They tell you , I am not God , I can not provide ... even as your child lies there dying . '' Life was always difficult , but the past year has pushed families to their limits . Mariam was among more than 100,000 beneficiaries that received cash from Oxfam 's ECHO-funded Emergency Food Security and Livelihoods project ( EFSL ) , created as a quick response to meet people 's inability to purchase food caused by the current crises in the country . The project provided cash grants of $ 25 to families for each of three months . Those that received the payment included a diversity of vulnerable groups such as women , children , chronically-ill , disabled , elderly-headed households , and low income families . Mariam tells me : `` I bought salt , sugar , oil , flour , and medicine for one of my grandsons . I also paid off some of my debts . Those payments were enough to buy food for about 20 or 25 days ... though it 's only 25 days , it was a gift from God . '' But despite the need for quick solutions like this , which meet people 's immediate needs with dignity and can build towards lasting solutions , funding for humanitarian programmes has not been flowing fast enough . Food insecurity is at risk of becoming a normal part of life in Yemen , but the U.N. humanitarian appeal for the country has been just 43 percent funded . The crisis has worsened since the appeal launched in December , so the funds needed to help people in need are likely to increase when the appeal is reviewed this June . At this week 's Friends of Yemen meeting in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia , donors pledged a reported $ 4 billion in new funds for the country . The pledges are generous and signal that the international community recognizes the dire level of need ; but it is unclear as yet exactly how this money will be spent and when it will arrive in Yemen . A good proportion of these funds need to be fast-tracked to meet the urgent humanitarian need . Almost half of Yemenis do not have enough to eat today and Yemen is entering its hunger season . The world can bring Yemen back from the brink of catastrophe -- but only if it acts now .
Oxfam : 10 million people in Yemen are on the brink of starvation . Comment: One in three Yemenis purchased food on credit in the past year .