Distribution of cash grants in Central-Western Yemen

Food insecurity has been a chronic issue in Yemen, and ACTED is working to provide some support to the most vulnerable households by starting cash transfer activities in the rural areas of Ad-Dhalee governorate. These are especially important as the lean summer months loom ahead.

In May, ACTED selected a group of 17 villages, with approximately 1,800 families, in Ad-Dhalee governorate, in central-western Yemen to initiate cash grant distributions to vulnerable families. Many of them, relying on farming and agricultural labour as their main sources of income, struggle to get through the lean period that runs from June to October – from the planting season until crops have reached maturity.

The Social Welfare Fund (SWF), Yemen’s main social assistance institution, has registered 3,000 vulnerable households entitled to state support in Al-Husha district. However, due to the ongoing economic and political crises, many have not received any support in months. Security issues have also held back the World Food Programme’s planned food distributions in Ad-Dhalee governorate.

Helping beneficiaries through the toughest period

ACTED plans to provide grants of 200 USD to the most vulnerable families, distributed in two installments, in order to cover the whole duration of the lean period. For its first two distributions, mid-May, ACTED targeted two villages, which number 501 families, registered on the SWF state-support beneficiary lists. During the distributions, 141 vulnerable households received a first installment of 56 USD.

The close collaboration between ACTED’s team and the local community leader, notably in the beneficiary selection, helped the organization reach out rapidly to very vulnerable households who had not received any other financial support for several months, including disabled people, old men and women, and women heads of households : Musleh’s family, a 37 year-old widow with six children, has been deeply affected by the crisis, notably the increase in the price of staple food, and has subsisted mainly on tea, bread and rice. The grant provided by ACTED should enable her to provide a more diversified diet to her family in the coming months. The project is supported by the American Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA).