Amman:As the fragile peace in Yemen holds and with serious food insecurity concerns persisting, the European Union (EU) and FAO have announced new EU funding of $6.7 million to support the UN agency’s work to build the country’s capacity to monitor threats to food security and collect key data on hunger and malnutrition.
Accurate and comprehensive data on threats to livelihoods and households’ food security status are critical to effectively target humanitarian assistance to where and when it is most needed.
FAO’s efforts also aim to improve Yemen’s ability to monitor emerging threats to food security and livelihoods, such as poor weather or crop pests and diseases, so that appropriate livelihood support – irrigation services, or feed for livestock, for example – can be provided, before impacts are felt.
Availability of reliable and timely data not only means we can respond better when crises impact food security, as is the case now – it is also the foundation on which the government, humanitarian and development agencies can build up people’s resilience, to withstand future food insecurity,” said FAO’s Country Representative in Yemen, Salah El Hajj Hassan.
Unfortunately, trends indicate that recurrent hazards and shocks will continue to threaten Yemen. But, if we support people to build up their resilience, they will be better positioned to cope with these adversities, thus averting the threat of hunger and humanitarian crises,” he added.
The European Union Ambassador for Yemen, Antonia Calvo Puerta, said: “The severity and magnitude of food insecurity in Yemen is putting an immense pressure on the majority of the population who are in dire need of humanitarian aid. The availability of nutrition information and food security will allow an appropriate and efficient response by the International Community to the crisis and prevent further deterioration. Thus, the EU is confident that this renewed collaboration with FAO will benefit the Yemeni population at a large scale.”