@fao-yemen FAO Representative in Yemen and key stakeholders celebrate WFD16

SANA’A - The Yemeni Ministry of Water and Irrigation, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), organised a ceremony to mark World Food Day 2016, highlighting the need for solutions to eradicate hunger and achieve sustainable food security. These goals can be delivered by leveraging resources to find mechanisms for deepening awareness of the suffering and hardships caused by hunger and severe food insecurity and crises, which are affecting several countries around the world.

 At the ceremony, Acting Minister of Water and Irrigation Dr Ali Al Fudail said agriculture tops development priorities as many families rely on farming amid high poverty rates and limited farming initiatives.

 Underlining the impact of war on Yemen’s agriculture sector, Fudail said many farmers stopped growing food due to their inability to cope with high expenses and costs of agricultural inputs. The war has affected the purchasing power of citizens and inflected massive losses on farmers, he added.

 Acting Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Dr Mutahhar Al Abbasi underscored the difficulties and challenges facing Yemen, noting that the war created food and liquidity crises and increased unemployment, poverty, and displacement.

 For his part, Yemen FAO Representative Dr. Salah Hajj Hassan said that as the world celebrates food day, the Yemeni people are face growing poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition. He said the crisis in Yemen is one of worst in the world, requiring intensive and concerted efforts to address it. He noted that the country experienced many economic, political, and security problems in the past two years.

 Yemen suffered from the impact of climate change, as two cyclones hit several governorates, in addition to floods, and desert locust infestations, displacing tens of thousands of people in rural regions, he said. The desert locust outbreak plagued more than 7,000 hectares of cultivated land, causing property losses as well as damage to animal production and fisheries, he added.

 “Food insecurity and malnutrition outlook is very worrisome. More than half of the population suffers from food insecurity,” Hassan said, adding that more than seven million people were hit with sever food insecurity.

According to the FAO official, more than three million people were displaced, losing their sources of income, while another three million (74% children under 5 and 26% pregnant women and nursing mothers) need urgent nutrition aid. Those suffering from malnutrition were estimated at 1.3 million children.

The escalating conflict in Yemeni governorates is likely to reduce agricultural production and productivity this year by 30-35 percent due to lack or high cost of agricultural inputs, as well as the inability of farmers, producers, and fishermen to build resilience and regain initiative.

 UN Resident Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick and World Food Programme (WFP) representative addressed the ceremony, reviewing efforts made by the two organisations to help Yemen. They agreed that the ongoing conflict has aggravated the suffering of Yemenis and affected national economy, which requires coordination and hard work to aid those who face food insecurity.

The event was attended by Minister of Fish Wealth Abdullah Ba-Sonbol, and other officials.