New approach brings together various elements of food value chain to yield results.

Because of Yemen’s protracted conflict, millions suffer from extreme hunger. Two-thirds of the country´s population need humanitarian support to improve their living standards.
In a country that imports nearly 90 percent of its food, other factors like climate change, COVID-19, and global supply-chain issues have put even more pressure on households facing significant economic challenges. These include rising inflation, lack of job opportunities, non-payment of salaries, low incomes, and skyrocketing prices of even the most basic essentials.

According to the UN´s World Food Programme, 17.4 million Yemenis are food insecure and malnutrition rates among women and children remain among the highest in the world with 1.3 million pregnant or breastfeeding women and 2.2 million children under the age of five requiring treatments for acute malnutrition.

In these conditions, small changes can make a big difference allowing people to be able to feed their families. In partnership with the World Bank’s International Development Association and the United Nations Development Programme, the Yemen’s Small and Micro Enterprise Promotion Service (SMEPS) have previously supported livestock smallholders. But now, a new approach led by SMEPS joins the food value chain from the breeder to the veterinarian, and from intermediaries to the factory, in a bid to further support those most in need.