The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Wednesday announced that the government of Kuwait contributed two million U.S. dollars to boost FAO's programs in war-torn Yemen.

According to a statement released by the organization, "the Government of Kuwait has contributed two million U.S. dollars to boost FAO's emergency agricultural interventions and improve food security and nutrition in Yemen."

It said that the Kuwaiti funding in support of FAO's Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen will be crucial in providing assistance to some of the 8.6 million severely food insecure Yemenis.

"The generous contribution will help FAO secure and restore agricultural livelihoods. By promoting self-reliance of communities, we are trying to ensure families continue to produce food for themselves even in times of crisis," said Hussein Gadain, FAO representative in Yemen.

Conflict and insecurity continue to be the main drivers of food insecurity in the country. The conflict also devastated the people's livelihoods, limited income opportunities and reduced their ability to purchase food, the statement said.

Agriculture in Yemen represents one of the few remaining lifelines, especially for hard to reach rural areas, according to the statement.

The long-running conflict has caused the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Currently, some 24 million Yemenis, or 80 percent of the population, need humanitarian aid and protection, with some 20 million lacking food security, according to previous UN statistics.