Yemen Emergency Food Assistance Final Report FY 2017

The program aims to reduce food insecurity and promote recovery and resilience of vulnerable displaced and conflict-affected households in Yemen. The overall goal of the project is to reduce food insecurity and promote recovery and resilience of vulnerable displaced and conflict-affected households in Yemen. The program is implemented in ten districts in Sana'a, Al Mahwit, Taizz, Lahj, and Al Dhale'e Governorates. Mercy Corps expects to reach at least 7,510 households by the end of the program. The program has three mutually reinforcing objectives that focus on meeting the basic food needs of conflict-affected households through food vouchers; improving the knowledge of proper hygiene and nutrition practices for households targeted through YEFA interventions; and improving targeted communities' ability to mitigate shocks through the construction and rehabilitation of communal productive assets. The program utilizes complementary approaches to ensure the realization of its objectives. Through unconditional and conditional food transfers, the program meets the basic food needs of the targeted households. Nutrition and hygiene promotion is conducted through a network of community health volunteers appropriately trained by Mercy Corps and its partners' staff members as well as equipped with relevant information, education, and communication materials. Community projects for risk mitigation are constructed or rehabilitated through the Food for Assets (FFA) approach. The period under review witnessed intensified conflict, airstrikes, and ground fighting, coupled with increased government administrative demands on NGOs, factors that together put operational constraints on the implementation of humanitarian interventions. The overall conflict-induced humanitarian situation in Yemen has worsened over the reporting period. Increased mistrust for international non-governmental organization work saw the government ratcheting up pressure on INGOs with cumbersome demands, including submission of beneficiary lists, movement plans, district-specific budgets, and quarterly plans. The cholera outbreak in Yemen has become a defining feature of the crisis, with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting 259,897 cases and 1,594 deaths between April and June 2017. This has become one of the most pressing concerns for the humanitarian community. The cholera emergency brings an additional burden to a country experiencing high levels of food insecurity affecting over 60% of the country's estimated population of 28,000,000 people. Food insecurity in Yemen further worsened during the reporting period, as evidenced by the outcome of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis conducted in February 2017. The analysis showed that over 60% of the Yemeni population are food insecure and require urgent humanitarian assistance to save lives and protect their livelihoods. Food insecurity in Yemen is mostly driven by the ongoing conflict, which has displaced over two million individuals, with Taizz and Sana'a among the most affected governorates. The program has achieved significant results, including the identification and registration of 2,200 beneficiary households to receive food vouchers in Sana'a and Al-Mahwit districts. Beneficiaries have reported a positive impact of the project activities on their household economy, with 100% of respondents reporting a positive impact of the project activities on beneficiaries' household economy. The program has also increased household food production and provided households with more food to eat, while allowing them to have a more diversified diet. The program's results are reflected in the food security classifications for the targeted governorates, which show that over 60% of the Yemeni population are food insecure and require urgent humanitarian assistance to save lives and protect their livelihoods. The program's achievements are a testament to the effectiveness of the Food for Assets (FFA) approach in improving the knowledge of proper hygiene and nutrition practices for households targeted through YEFA interventions.