The objective of the pilot is to promote sustainable coffee production and value chains in Yemen as a high value crop alternative to unsustainable qat production, reduce groundwater exploitation, enhance livelihood opportunities, and empower women. The project developed a value chain analysis for qat and coffee production in Yemen, including concrete programming recommendations on how to enhance coffee production and value chains for consideration by national and international stakeholders.

A validation workshop was held in July 2022 to present findings to key stakeholders and to encourage investments in coffee value chains. A blog post was published online.2

Based on vulnerability criteria and on the security context in various governorates in Yemen, 16 pilot farmers will be selected within Yafe' district, Lahj governorate in southern Yemen, where soil conditions

are also very suitable for coffee production. The project is expected to decrease qat lands by approximately 5–10% and expand coffee lands by 10–15% by the end of the implementation in late 2023.