[{"bbox": [83, 128, 1146, 369], "category": "Text", "text": "The COVID-19 pandemic is poised to have a devastating effect on an already devastated economy and impoverished population. The pandemic is straining an already stretched healthcare system, where only 50 percent of health facilities are fully functioning, and those that continue to function lack basic equipment such as masks and gloves, oxygen and other essential supplies. The indirect effects of the pandemic are likely to be substantial. The pandemic is negatively affecting the Yemeni economy through the domestic restrictions on economic activity and, most significantly, through its impact on global markets, particularly through the plummeting oil prices and the weakening of the Yemeni Rial. The latter contributes to increasing the price of imported commodities, eroding the purchasing power of households and increasing operating costs for businesses. Households are affected through reduced incomes and remittances, and particularly higher food prices."}, {"bbox": [83, 393, 1146, 501], "category": "Text", "text": "The proposed programme intervention is aligned with the policy of the Government of Yemen and the EU framework on resilience building of the vulnerable communities. The Government's Yemen Strategic Vision 2025 had placed resilience and food security very high on its agenda and highlights the promising role of the agriculture sector in the economy."}, {"bbox": [83, 526, 1146, 580], "category": "Text", "text": "The programme intervention will also contribute to the European Consensus for Development and the EU Gender Action Plan III and it will be aligned with the EU Multi-Annual Indicative Programme 2021-2027 for Yemen."}, {"bbox": [87, 598, 326, 629], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.2. Problem Analysis"}, {"bbox": [83, 670, 319, 696], "category": "Section-header", "text": "**Short problem analysis:**"}, {"bbox": [83, 696, 611, 721], "category": "Text", "text": "The main problems that this action intends to address are:"}, {"bbox": [107, 721, 1040, 749], "category": "Section-header", "text": "**1. Severity of food insecurity and the number of people in need of humanitarian (food) assistance.**"}, {"bbox": [83, 749, 1146, 800], "category": "Text", "text": "Reliable data and analysis are important tools in tackling the root causes of food crises and especially in protracted conflict countries."}, {"bbox": [83, 801, 1146, 985], "category": "Text", "text": "Since 2011, the IPC has been used to inform evidence-based decision making in Yemen specifically on the severity of food insecurity and the number of people in need of humanitarian (food) assistance. The IPC has proved useful as the primary and only source of evidence that supports resource mobilisation and location specific targeting of responses. The most recent IPC indicate that alarming levels of food insecurity and acute malnutrition have returned to Yemen and that a famine is looming in Yemen with record high malnutrition rates, especially amongst children, elderly, people with disabilities, IDPs and women headed households, who are the groups in the most vulnerable situations."}, {"bbox": [83, 1013, 1146, 1147], "category": "Text", "text": "The information and data used for resource allocations of both humanitarian and development interventions focusing on food security in Yemen primarily comes from the IPC analysis. It is therefore critical for Yemen that quality, timely, and frequent data and analysis are available to inform evidence-based decision making and that IPC analyses as the globally accepted standard for food insecurity and acute malnutrition analyses are conducted annually, anticipating and responding to decision makers' needs."}, {"bbox": [83, 1172, 1146, 1359], "category": "Text", "text": "Food security in Yemen is also affected by desert locust infestation, which pose a high threat to agriculture-based livelihoods. Water sources are slowly depleting and desertification brought on by agricultural pressures, recurrent drought and climate change is threatening the availability of arable land and access to safe drinking water. Yemen also is witnessing a reduction of farming and breeding production. Business and other livelihood opportunities are collapsing and unemployment is increasing sharply due to the conflict. Loss of income and livelihoods, and food insecurity will also lead to high level of malnutrition and associated mortality and other long-term irreversible effects on child growth and development."}, {"bbox": [107, 1384, 587, 1411], "category": "Section-header", "text": "**2. Weak institutional capacity and human capital**"}, {"bbox": [83, 1411, 1017, 1437], "category": "Text", "text": "Building capable institutions is essential for preventing conflict, managing tensions and other stresses."}, {"bbox": [83, 1437, 1146, 1543], "category": "Text", "text": "Since 2013, FAO has been supporting the Government of Yemen in the establishment of a National Food Security and Nutrition Information System (FSIS). However, high staff turnover, austerity measures and loss of institutional memory continue to affect a full institutionalisation of these capacities and the burden on international organisations to sustain these institutions is increasing."}, {"bbox": [83, 1543, 1146, 1623], "category": "Text", "text": "Data, analyses and information systems play an important role in decision making and policy formulation, and without the right capacities in data collection, analyses, communication and management, or without properly functioning local institutions that support data collection and analyses, there cannot be reliable analysis."}, {"bbox": [1051, 1639, 1157, 1664], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 21"}]