Attachments
Key highlights
• Approximately 593 000 agricultural households are in need of emergency agricultural assistance in the coming months, out of which 500 000 have expressed a need for agricultural livelihood support. An estimated 461 000 of the agricultural households in need of emergency assistance (AgHiN) reside in rural areas, compared with 72 000 in semi-urban and 60 000 in urban settings.
• Fifty-five percent of the 593 000 AgHiN – 326 500 households – are located in five governorates: Al Hudaydah, Dhamar, Hajjah, Ibb and Taizz (Figure 1). These governorates are highly populated and mainly depend on rainfed mixed farming. Seventy percent are in Sana’a Based Authorities-controlled areas characterized by extensive highlands in the northwest and parts of the western coast of the Red Sea.
• The most at-risk groups in the coming months are smallholder cereal growers – especially those cultivating millet, sorghum and wheat – in the Western and central wadi zones, and small ruminant keepers in the same regions producing qat, grain, fodder and livestock zone. Fishing households in the Greater Yemen coastal fishing zone are also vulnerable as a result of fuel and market disruptions.
• Populations with specific needs – especially returnees – are highly vulnerable: 63 percent of returnees are engaged in agriculture, and half of them are AgHiN requiring immediate assistance to support their agricultural livelihoods.
• Smallholder farmers, including crop and livestock producers, have a larger percent of AgHiN compared to medium and large farmers indicating their disproportionate vulnerability. Small landowners are twice as likely to be AgHiN compared to large landowners.
• The household profile in most need of assistance is small-scale livestock farmers living in rural areas with a low asset base. These households tend to rely on casual off-farm employment during non-agricultural seasons.
• A significant discrepancy remains between the reported needs of the AgHiN and the assistance subsequently received. While food was the dominant form of assistance provided, the AgHiN prioritized agricultural support. Overall, 85 percent of the AgHiN expressed a need for agricultural support, with cash and food assistance required by 39 and 33 percent respectively.
• Recurrent shocks including conflict, displacement and economic downturn continue to erode household resilience in Yemen, underscoring the urgent need for targeted projects that restore livelihoods, strengthen coping capacities and build long-term food security