The evolution of poor food access over the course of the conflict in Yemen

•The geographic location of violence has been used to target food assistance during active conflict.•Food access is not strongly related to the geographic location of violence in Yemen’s conflict.•Violence affecting supply chains has strong effects beyond the geographic location of the violence.•The findings suggest improvements to aid in Yemen and that the location of violence can be a poor targeting criterion. Yemen has undergone a profound transformation following the escalation of conflict in March of 2015 that has resulted in widespread food insecurity and the threat of famine. Given the lack of physical access to much of the country and the pressing need for humanitarian assistance, one of the manners in which assistance is targeted is according to the proximity of households to the ongoing violence. However, the temporal and regional patterns of poor food access suggest that there is little correlation between the geographic location of violence and food insecurity. Rather, we demonstrate that violence can affect supply chains and have an impact on food security beyond the location where the violence occurs. Although violence has a strong effect on food security, the lack of a relationship between geographic location of violence and poor food access contrasts with the rationale underpinning portions of the humanitarian and development assistance currently being delivered in the country.