June 11, 2019
Scaling Up Nutrition Yemen
Heidi Kandil, IFPRI Intern
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen remains the worst in the world. Nearly five years of conflict and severe economic decline are driving the country to the brink of famine and exacerbating needs in all sectors. An estimated 80 per cent of the population – 24 million people – require some form of humanitarian assistance, including 14.3 million who are in acute need. Severity of need is deepening, with the number of people in acute need reaching 27 per cent higher than last year. Two-thirds of all districts in the country are already pre-famine, and one-third face a convergence of multiple acute vulnerabilities. The disruption of official markets, currency fluctuations, rising commodity prices and the diminished ability of the public to purchase basic food needs are some of the key issues that need to be addressed.
External assistance to Yemen includes assistance to help Yemen adopt a multi-sectoral approach to tap into synergies across key sectors that directly and indirectly contribute to strengthening and enhancing nutrition issues. In this regard, the Government of Yemen, represented by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, working with Scaling Up Nutrition in Yemen (SUN Yemen), the Food Security Technical Secretariat (FSTS), and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), established MAP Yemen, a national information system that provides data and indicators related to the nutrition sector in Yemen. The purpose was to revamp the Yemen Spatial tool and develop a database to be used in mapping, monitoring and following-up of food security and nutrition projects and indicators at the sub-national level. This activity had actors working in the relevant sectors provide data on the available indicators and projects. The platform can be accessed by interested actors and partners to enhance the ability to evaluate and monitor the nutrition status, analyze options and take effective action to improve nutrition.
The prevalence of updated information supplied by the MAP Yemen tool is essential for policy makers to overcome planning challenges and develop policies that are best suited for their investment requirements and development strategies. The tool would potentially allow analysts to advise policy makers on areas that need policy intervention. MAP Yemen also digitalized the documentation process, as a key step in the preservation of and access to information. The tool was launched on the 21st of November 2018, where the audience was informed about the importance of the tool and food security and nutrition indicators and projects. With its capacity for the development of synergy, evidence-based project planning, data-driven coordination, and policymaking, this tool is a potentially remarkable step in the path of post-conflict reconstruction and humanitarian development.
For example, this tool will help in targeting assistance to specific priority needs such as child malnutrition. Making investments in child nutrition brings about healthier, better educated and more productive adults. The prevalence of low birth weight hampers children's potential for full-scale growth; micronutrient deficiency permanently damages the brain, and short-term anemia and hunger reduce children's performance in school in the short run. Yemen suffers from unequal development progress, and the burden of malnutrition is disproportionate among its population. Although there has been some improvement in health outcomes, investment in nutrition in Yemen is still very limited because of the many factors that contribute to lack of progress, the most important of which are poor government performance, lack of accountability, political instability, natural disasters, poor infrastructure, and the lack of coordination in aid provision and interventions.
The improvement of malnutrition indicators requires radical solutions to all other indirect causes of malnutrition, including an improved economic situation, political stability, and the improvement of relevant indicators, such as improved access to clean and safe water, sanitation services and other health services.
The agriculture sector plays a vital role in supporting food security and combating poverty in Yemen. It provides about 25% of food consumed in the country, contributes 20% of the real GDP, provides employment for 40.9% of the total employed population and spreads geographically in rural areas where pockets of poverty are concentrated. Moreover, the fisheries industry represents a main source of food security, income and employment. It provides job opportunities for more than half a million individuals who in turn support 1.7 million people, forming 18 percent of the coastal communities’ population of 9.4 million. Education also plays a crucial role in raising awareness. Providing equal access to education can potentially improve nutritional behavior among children throughout the country.
Utilizing the information on MAP Yemen, policy makers and international partners can better track the progress of access to sanitation, for example, and consequently develop specific strategies that tackle this. The tool will visually display governorates’ access to sanitation across a number of years, based on the available data. Thus, governorates that have achieved the highest progress in selected indicators, will be highlighted, as opposed to those that are still lacking or are in significant need of further developmental aid, projects, etc. Therefore, MAP Yemen essentially overcomes challenges such as outdated data and lack of transparency allowing international partners and policy makers to focus their attention, strategy, and funding on areas most in need.
In the coming weeks and months, MAP YEMEN will be put to the test as donors and governmental agencies scramble (hopefully in a coordinated fashion) to address the Yemen’s multiple crises.
