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Yemen Hero

Smallholder Agricultural Productivity Enhancement Program (SAPEP)

Photo: Tomas Sennett

About the Project

GAFSP invested $36 million to strengthen community land and water management as well as enhance access to animal health services, higher-value crops, and microenterprise.

SAPREP activities helped build communities’ climate resilience by promoting natural resource management techniques, such as water harvesting and terrace rehabilitation in the highlands, spate irrigated agriculture in the lowlands and integrated watershed management. Developing underground cistern and wadi pits, rehabilitating wells and springs, building rooftop and other household-level water-harvesting facilities water storages, excavating ponds, and rehabilitating on-farm water harvesting for agriculture and livestock strengthened on-farm water management. 

The project provided investment to increase agriculture production and improve livelihoods and nutrition and improved technologies and practices for key horticulture crops and dairy products, leading to the increased nutritional content of agricultural products, better honey quality through improved beekeeping and processing, and more-successful animal husbandry and health services. The project also introduced improved climate-resilient seed varieties, better production management of emission-intensive crops, and integrated pest and disease control technologies. 
 

Country

  • Republic of Yemen

Project Status

Closed

Funding

Public

Supervising entity

  • World Bank

Call Year

2013

GAFSP Funding Amount

36.00

Results

Despite the extremely difficult conditions for project implementation, SAPREP met or exceeded most of its targets and development objectives. Overall, approximately 157,000 households benefitted from project activities, exceeding the target of 110,000, including 59,640 households provided with start-up packages of seeds, backyard poultry, and small ruminants to resume crop and livestock production, which is 70% higher than the target. 

The project provided 8,598 hectares of land area with improved production support, resulting in a 91% increase in profits and yield and decreases in production costs. Four thousand farmers received climate-resilient forage seeds for fodder production ¬in the form of 100 tons of sorghum baini and cowpea, with 95% of the seeds being compatible with the local environment with no additional growing costs. Approximately 53,330 farmers received start-up packages of staple seeds, including sorghum, millet, wheat, and legumes, which require less water than local seeds. Further, SAPREP implemented small works to rehabilitate community water infrastructure through a cash-for-work scheme supporting 6,724 households, provided 2,100 people with improved nutrition services and products and 58,567 smallholder farmers with capacity development support, and promoted awareness on nutrition-sensitive agriculture through training delivered by 105 Farmer Field Schools.