Dhamar Participatory Rural Development Project

Dhamar Governorate includes an important agricultural zone. The land is varied in nature, ranging from mountains and highlands to lowlands and the Red Sea coast. Poverty is widespread in highland villages, where up to 70 percent of the people are poor. Entire communities live in conditions of deprivation, with a standard of living that has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. Women, who have the main responsibility for raising livestock, producing crops and managing their households, are largely illiterate. They have limited rights of ownership or control of assets, and their participation in social and civic affairs is restricted.

The project’s principal goals are to improve the food security of subsistence farmers, increase family incomes and improve the living conditions of small farm households and village communities in Dhamar. It works also to develop poor people’s participation in planning and implementing activities.

Project activities are designed to:

• empower communities, and particularly women and poor people, to participate in and reap the benefits of development planning under the project
• remove physical, infrastructural and social constraints
• equip and support farm households to increase output so they can secure basic food supplies, produce marketable surpluses and develop income-generating activities

Source: IFAD