“Now I can help meet my family needs, for example those related to the health and education of my children,” stated a participant of one of the women-only farmer field schools (FFS) from Lahj, Yemen. 231 women-only Farmers Field Schools (FFS) have been implemented in the governorates of Abyan and Lahj, located in the southern part of the country, and in the governorate of Hajjah in the northern part of the country, to enhance women’s knowledge and capacities in the livestock and dairy sector.

Funded by the European Union and the Swedish Cooperation, the joint programme “Enhanced Rural Resilience in Yemen” (ERRY), implemented by FAO, ILO, WFP, and UNDP since 2016, is working to reduce the vulnerability and strengthen the resilience of crisis-affected communities in Yemen. Through the creation of sustainable livelihoods and improving access to basic services, FAO works to restore rural livelihoods and build local resilience, by supporting the agricultural value chain development and women smallholders’ involvement in dairy production, milk collection and processing in the six governorates of Al Hudaydah, Hajjah, Abyan, Lahj, Sanaa and Taiz.

From the 231 women-only FFS, 200 Individual participants of the FFS and small women groups members were provided with animal feeds (wheat bran, feed blocks and molasses) to increase the milk production. The project also provided 175 women dairy processors with modern equipment, training, and appropriate workplaces. Overall, ERRY, through its intervention in the dairy value chain, benefitted 5662 beneficiaries, out of which 90% (5096) were women.

In March 2023, the FAO gender experts met with 40 women who participated in the Farmer Field Schools (10 from Abyan and 30 from Lahj) to assess the “empowerment” component of their participation in the FFS and in the project. The discussions aimed to capture any change in women’s self-confidence, status within the household and the community, access to and control over resources and services, decision-making over household income and expenditures and the challenges that women beneficiaries faced when they create and control their business.

The biggest challenges women face in the dairy value chain is how to sustain animal feed, as it is very expensive in the market. Access to the market still a big problem for women as the cost of transportation is very high. They need an available veterinarian to make regular checkup for their animals. FFS has been a key support not only to Increase the milk production but also to better marketitt, thus creating more stable source of incomes.

As such, the dairy value chain development support has positively affected women smallholders involved in milk collection and processing. Thanks to the knowledge acquired and the kick-start of their own economic activity, the participants were satisfied with the experience. “I highly benefitted from this training and the kits I received. Now I know how to produce clean and sterilized dairy products and sell them to earn money” stated Wafa’a from Abyan. Women from Lahj also explained that “After the training, [they] started [their] business, created a product logo, collected loans from each other and bought enough milk from other women to prepare the products”.

All 40 women highlighted how important it is for them to have an independent source of income and thus be able to contribute to the well-being of their family members, especially their children. “Now I can help meet my family needs, for example those related to the health and education of my children,” another woman beneficiary from Lahj said.

Women shared how the training enhanced not only their technical skills, but also their self-esteem and confidence and how this helped change their position vis-à-vis their family members (spouses, but also children and in-laws) and community members. One beneficiary stated,” I go to the market myself to sell my dairy products”. Another woman said: “My husband and my children also help me in marketing and selling the products.”

 The knowledge acquired through FFS also started spreading throughout the community as several women took the initiative to train other women to improve their knowledge and practices on animal health and dairy processing. Some women clearly stated that this helped them become “role models” in their communities. Huda from Abyan, one of the women leaders in her community, said “I trained more than 25 women on dairy processing to help them start their business. I was ashamed before to sell yoghurt because I could only produce it in small quantities; we were just throwing it away or donating it to other neighbors, but now I can produce different products in large quantities, sell products in the market and sometime they are already sold before I get to the market! My son told me that he is very proud of me”.

Another pioneer woman, Noor, established a local Livestock Breeding and Dairy Industry Association. She explained that she now conducts regular awareness sessions in her community targeted at women on how to use FAO guides on which she had been trained before. 

The discussions made evident the key role played by Ms. Maha Alban, Gender Training Expert in FAO Yemen, ensuring that gender parity is mainstreamed in selecting beneficiaries and for engaging and providing technical support to women throughout the project. Ms. Alban is clearly a role model and a point of reference for the community's women and girls.