Supported by the Government of Kuwait, FAO hands over rehabilitated water assets to local communities in Yemen

March 2021- Sana’a: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) handed over 259 small and medium irrigation infrastructure rehabilitated in Lahj and Ibb governorates to local communities as part of the “Water for Food Security Project” that is funded by the Government of Kuwait.

The project managed to construct 98 water harvesting tanks, five kilometres of Wadi bank protection walls, and rehabilitation of 24 kilometres of terraces, 21 kilometres of canals and nine shallow water wells. FAO through local communities’ engagement adopted the Cash for Work approach to increase and diversify their income and enhance their resilience. The targeted groups include women, the unemployed, and youth of the host communities, IDPs, returnees, and stressed host communities. This contributed to increasing the number of agricultural water storage facilities. 

 “The prolonged conflict-affected all productive sectors in Yemen including the agriculture sector which is already crippled with water scarcity and soaring of fuel prices in addition to COVID19 impacts putting the lives of thousands of Yemeni rural families at risk of food insecurity,” said Hussein Gadain FAO representative in Yemen. “Thanks to the generous contribution by the Government of Kuwait, FAO managed to assist the most vulnerable households by increasing their access to irrigation water and restoring their agricultural livelihoods” he added.

The project aimed at enhancing the resilience of host communities in supporting internally displaced persons and returnees in Yemen through enhanced social cohesion and improved ability of host communities to accommodate internally displaced persons and promote economic self-reliance of returnees as well as more responsive, accountable, and effective institutions to deliver services, build the social contract and, meet the identified needs of host communities and returnees.

“For the lasting and significant social change in the project, FAO was able to bring together IDPs, returnees and host communities together through organized cash-for-work activities, creating equal job opportunities and income generation for all local community members,” Said Walid Saleh, head of the Water, and Natural Resources Management Programme for FAO Yemen

FAO and Kuwait partnership in Yemen extends to cover other geographical areas of Yemen including Hadhramaut governorate where over 8 410 households are about to reap the benefits from ongoing interventions that aim to enhance food security through improving farmers’ access to additional water sources for agricultural production and promoting economic self-reliance.

Since the start of the conflict in 2015, the Government of Kuwait contributed seven million dollars to FAO’s work in Yemen to reach over 37950 households (265650 Individual), increasing their food production and resilience.

End