"Envelope 1: Emergency livelihood support to the fishing communities in Hodeidah" As per the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Report, an estimated 17 million people, equivalent to 60 percent of the total Yemeni population, are food insecure and require urgent humanitarian assistance to save lives and protect livelihoods. Among those, approximately 10.2 million people are in IPC Phase 3 ‘crisis’ and 6.8 million people are in IPC Phase 4 ‘emergency’. Nationally, the population under IPC 4 and IPC 3 has increased by 20 percent compared to the results of the June 2016 IPC analysis. Among the worst hit governorates is Hodeida with 55 percent of its population classified in IPC 3 and 4. Meanwhile and as highlighted in the YHF Strategy Paper for this second allocation, the fishing industry shrunk by at least 50 percent since the start of the conflict (EFSNA, 2017). Not only has the fisheries sector largely been ignored in terms of humanitarian priorities, fishery communities also have very limited livelihood opportunities which explains the extremely high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition recorded in these area. The proposal is based on a comprehensive in-depth livelihood and fish value chain analysis carried out in February 2017 by the Norwegian Refugee Council in selected coastal areas of Yemen including Lahj and Aden, all very much indicative of the situation of other coastal governorates including Hodeidah. A focus group discussion has been undertaken with fishermen in Hodeidah and Lajh, alongside with the Ministry of Fish Wealth and local authorities, which confirms that they all face very similar vulnerabilities. Additional information was generated by FAO’s Food Security Information System (FSIS) through its soon to be released study carried out in June 2017 on "The Status of Fishery Production Marketing and People Livelihoods along the Yemen Red Sea Region".
Boats and fishing equipment were damaged or lost while fishing activities suffer from increased prices for boat maintenance and gears, resulting in fishing operational costs now higher by nearly 70 percent. Reduced electricity supply affects the ability to freeze, store and transport fish products obliging fishermen to throw their products away during the monsoon. Fishermen households, unable to buy gears or take shares in a boat, lack formal credit options which prevents them to sustain their pre-dominantly fishing dependent livelihoods.
The geographic priorities identified within this project are based on the 2017 IPC data as well as the vulnerability criteria developed by the Food Security amp Agriculture and Nutrition clusters which led to the development of a list of 95 priority districts at risk of famine in which the two selected districts, namely Al Khawkhah and At Tuhayat in Hodeidah, both appear.
The project will be implemented in direct coordination with a national NGO (Millennium Development Foundation) and relevant fishery cooperatives in each district. A total of 2,000 fishermen and their families (14,000 people) will be provided with 1,600 fishing net kits (4 per group of 5 fishermen), 800 ice boxes (2 per group of 5 fishermen), 2,000 life jackets (1 per fisherman), and 400 technical manuals (1 per group of 5 fishermen including 50 percent of women). This will enable fishermen households to return to work and will provide women groups in charge of fish processing with cash income including training on net maintenance and repair.