Enhancing rainfed agriculture in Yemen [Archives:2007/1076/Local News]

SANA'A, Aug. 12 ) Yemen and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) signed on Friday an agreement to fund rain fed agricultural project for about $16 millions.

The project area comprises five of the most deprived governorates in Yemen: Al-Mahweet, Hajjah, Hodeidah, Lahej and Sana'a. Their economy is predominantly based on rainfed agriculture and livestock.

Interventions will focus on 23 of the poorest and most disadvantaged districts in the five governorates and target about 185,000 households, including: (i) poor landless and woman-headed households; (ii) poor smallholders with and without livestock; (iii) vulnerable households involved in farming and off-farm activities; and (iv) poor individuals (20-35 years old) seeking off-farm activities and credit (they may be members of the above households). It is expected that about 60 per cent of project participants will be women.

This support agreement project decided giving this financial support to manage running, rain fed farming project in Yemen. The Yemeni Minister of Planning and Development signed the agreement with IFAD's officer of rain fed farming for the Middle East.

The project will have three components. The first two components, covering all five governorates, will be exclusively financed by the International Development Association (IDA). The third component, to be implemented in the 23 targeted districts, will be cofinanced by IFAD and IDA.

The project's goal will be to reduce rural poverty in the targeted governorates and improve natural resource management. Specifically, the project will: (i) help poor producers upgrade and diversify their agriculture and livestock production, strengthen their processing and marketing systems, protect their assets (soil, water, rangelands, seeds and animals) and increase off-farm household income (including through the development of new income-earning activities); and (ii) empower rural poor communities to participate in, and gain benefit from, community-based development planning and project execution, and improve their access to public and private services and to input and output markets.
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