Yemen Emergency Food Assistance (YEFA) Quarterly Report: October – December 2017

The program is implemented in Sana'a, Al Mahwit, Taiz, Lahj, and Al Dhale'e Governorates of Yemen, with a focus on ten districts in the five governorates. 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 has three mutually reinforcing objectives: 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, including unconditional and conditional food transfers, nutrition and hygiene promotion, and community projects for risk mitigation. The conflict in Yemen has significantly escalated, with the Saudi-led Coalition closing all air and sea ports in Yemen, effectively sealing off the country and imposing a de-facto blockade. The blockade has disrupted the provision of much-needed humanitarian and commercial supplies to the country, leading to a widespread increase in prices of basic commodities. The market has witnessed a significant increase in prices of basic commodities, with the average cost of the November minimum food basket in Al Dhale'e increasing by 6.5% from the October basket. Access in Al Dhale'e and Lahj governorates was largely stable during the reporting period, with ACTED and CARE's project teams not facing any issues pertaining to security. However, in Sana'a City, Al Mahwit, and Taiz, the offices and operations of Mercy Corps were temporarily closed and movements halted for two weeks due to the active fighting that resulted in the death of the former president, Saleh. During the reporting period, ACTED and Mercy Corps finalized the last cycle of food security support to 4,800 beneficiary households targeted during the first phase of the project (YEFA I), and launched the preliminary activities for the second phase of the project (YEFA II). The last distribution of food vouchers and hygiene promotion sessions to the 2,600 households targeted under YEFA I was completed in October. Mercy Corps also completed rehabilitation of 10 community projects that had been delayed because of accessibility issues and permits for field visit movement. The program has made significant progress in achieving its objectives, with 7,582 beneficiary households having access to basic food items through the provision of food vouchers. The program has also conducted several meetings with local authorities at the governorate and district level to raise awareness about the programs and identify the most vulnerable districts to be targeted under the second phase of the project.