International Youth Council-Yemen( IYCY)

Smallholder farmers are amongst the most vulnerable as they suffer devastating losses, most dramatically in the occurrence of an extreme conflict and unpredictable seasonal variations. This aims to introduce climate resilient agricultural practices that will allow farmers to have a sustainable production process and improved market access for their produce; therefore increasing their economic, social, and environmental resilience. In context of smallholder farmers in Yemen, improved resilience is defined as the capacity to minimize the impacts of conflict, climatic and economic shocks, enabling farmers to better confront periodic variations and strengthening their capacity to cope and recover in times of extreme stress. To achieve this the meaningfully improves smallholders adaptive capacity, significant improvements across the entire value chain are required, as weaknesses in production technologies and practices, fragile and variable physical access to markets, and limited capacity to respond to market demands are all factors that contribute to farmers’ vulnerability.

Five years of unrelenting conflict and a severe economic decline in Yemen have deepened humanitarian needs. Millions of Yemenis endure the consequences of the protracted conflict amplified by hunger and disease outbreaks, which continue to threaten lives and livelihoods. According to UN-OCHA more than 15.9 million people in severe acute food insecurity and 3.6 million people displaced since March 2015.

Even before the conflict escalated, the country suffered high levels of poverty, food insecurity, undernutrition and malnutrition, water shortages and land degradation. Yemenis are also facing armed conflict, displacement, risk of famine and disease outbreaks.

The overall goal is to make a significant contribution towards improving food security and nutrition and strengthening the resilience of vulnerable rural and peri-urban households while restoring the agriculture sector of the country. As a dynamic document, the project will be implemented through a flexible twin-track approach that can be tailored to its target areas for different types of intervention based on the conflict dynamics and changing circumstances in the country over the next three years. Strategic decisions on targeting will be informed by conflict analysis and regular conflict monitoring that ensures conflict-sensitive interventions.

The project proposes a comprehensive, focalized, and climate resilient approach to reduce the exposure to conflict, climate and economic shocks by promoting climate resilient agricultural production, investing in climate proof infrastructure, supporting producer associations, and strengthening value chains to establish smallholder farmers as reliable and competitive suppliers of domestic produce in Yemen for an expanding market for fruit and vegetables.

The project will introduce/strengthen smallholder participation in select value chains through the promotion of climate resilient and environmentally sustainable production methods, product diversification, and related innovations. It will rely on technical support and the physical presence in the project Districts of climate resilient agriculture specialists working with Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) extension agents. This project will be structured to support climate resilient production and value chain development investments. Producer Organizations (POs) as well as individual members receiving support from technical areas of the project will be eligible for funding. Additionally, the project will support food security, self-consumption and healthy food choices through implementation of backyard gardens.

The project will initially work in the most affected conflict 7 governorates in Yemen. The main criteria for identifying communities include: i) presence of both male and female smallholder farmers; ii) potential integration of smallholders in targeted value chains; iii) market-oriented smallholder farmers (e.g., not just subsistence farming); iv) farmer interest in project; and, v) presence of formal or informal POs. The target group includes: i) poor rural families (indigent and poor, with incomes below the poverty line); and ii) vulnerable rural families whose income above the poverty line, vulnerable to poverty.

To accomplish the project’s objective, climate change is fully mainstreamed into the project approach through, i) enhanced technical assistance and capacity building to farmers in sustainable and climate resilient agricultural practices, ii) co-financing producers organizations’ business plans in all aspects related to increasing climate resilience and autonomy, iii) investment in climate-proofing of public infrastructure across the value chain, and iv) strengthening national institutions for research, regulation, and education on climate adaptation and resilience in the agricultural sector. These interventions will have mutually reinforcing effects.

The project aims to minimize the impacts of conflict, climatic and economic events on smallholder farmers while supporting continuous market access for their produce. The project will help farmers employ climate resilient and sustainable agricultural practices and technologies. It will integrate profitable smallholder participation into the development of select vegetable value chains. The project will support smallholder production capacity through investments in public and private climate resilient infrastructure, strengthening smallholder famer POs and related/ relevant Government of Yemen capacity development.