FAO and KSRelief Strengthen Ministry of Agriculture Staff Capacity in Yemen

Aden – 25 February 2020: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Centre (KSrelief) launched a capacity-building training for Yemen’s Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MAI) in Aden. The five-day training of trainers (ToTs) aims to qualify 36 of the ministry staff with required skills and knowledge in the fields of crop production, animal breeding, feeding and health to be able to carry out a series of similar training rounds followed by awareness-raising campaigns among communities at the governorate and district levels. These trainings contribute to strengthening beneficiaries to optimize the use of agricultural inputs distributed under all FAO and KSrelief projects and activities.

The training is part of the project “Emergency agricultural livelihoods support to the most vulnerable households,” funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the KSrelief and implemented in Yemen in the governorates of Hajja, Amran, Taiz, Lahj, Abyan and Al Dale’e.

The project aims to improve availability and access to food for 70 000 households through three types of interventions, including poultry production and cash support, improving animal and agricultural production, and improving livelihoods’ conditions of vulnerable groups living in coastal areas of Yemen by rehabilitating fisheries’ infrastructure.

“Yemen is currently facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, a total of 1 246 500 people are still severely food insecure according to the latest IPC Hot-spot analysis,

Thanks to KSrelief’s generous support, hundreds of thousands of Yemeni families will be able to restore their livelihoods through income-generating activities, agricultural production support and livestock protection assistance,” said Andrea Berloffa, Acting FAO Representative and Senior Emergency and Resilience Officer at FAO Yemen.

Building on previous funds  

In previous investments over the last five years, FAO with support from KSrelief, reached over 3 million of Yemen’s most vulnerable including  202 797 agricultural sector beneficiaries, 2 850 911 animal health services sector beneficiaries and 92 960 fisheries sector beneficiaries. The provided support increased productivity amongst local communities and empowered conflict-affected households to reinforce resilience and restore their agricultural livelihoods.

FAO and KSrelief work with partners in the MAI through this project and its associated activities to reduce acute food insecurity among vulnerable rural households. Further, in districts at risk of famine in Yemen, FAO, KSrelief and their ministerial partners work to diversify diets and income of the most vulnerable rural populations in order to support those in most dire need.