Khanfar district residents depend economically on agriculture. In the past years, the residents of the district have suffered significantly from lack of water, due to neglected and clogged irrigation. channels. Sequentially, the normal watercourses got blocked and the water stream took a different direction, which led to the desertification of most of the agricultural lands.
Abood Salem Masoud Obaid, one of the underprivileged people, is a farmer from the local community who owns agricultural land estimated at 20 acres “The irrigation canals were full of dense trees, as well as accumulations of muds, stones and sediments, which led to the diversion of the watercourse and its failure to reach our agricultural lands.” Abood said. He added that he had to buy water in order to water his farm, which resulted in huge losses.
The suspension of the production of the agricultural lands led to a large number of unemployed laborers for whom agriculture was their only source of income and their only profession for subsistence. For these reasons, Yemen Family Care Association (YFCA), supported by Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF), intervened to restore the operational capacity of the watercourse as it was, with generous support represented in work and safety tools, as well as monthly allowance for the duration of the activity, which extended for four consecutive months.
Abdolra’uf is one of the Cash for Work (CFW) beneficiaries, he lives in Alhass-hoss area with 7 family members, he says “This project came at a time we were in desperate need for similar humanitarian intervention in the area, most of the people in my area are considered vulnerable, as we do not have a source of income and there are no governmental facilities that offer job opportunities. Literally, no sources of income other than working in agricultural lands during the rainy season.” “I benefited from this project in many aspects, the cash assistant that YHF provided helped me cover my family needs for 4 months”he added.
Ahmed Al-Nami from Al-Rawa’ area (a Beneficiary who worked at Gabion site) has directly benefited by improving his income level for his family which consists of 12 members. As he has provided food and clothing out of this assistance. In addition to acquiring a profession that facilitates his access to job opportunities, which is how to make Gabions, He worked with a group of skilled workers and under the supervision of specialized engineers in the field throughout the project period. Finally, He expressed his great thanks and gratitude to all the work team and the donor
After the intervention, the field team visited the farm of Abood Salem Masoud Obaid and noticed that his land is back to life and farmers are working on it. “Thank God, now the canal is clean, I will not think about how I will water my farm and I will not have to close my door in the face of the farmers who work for me, I can’t be more grateful, many thanks for Yemen Family Care Association for such intervention and I wish all farmers who got benefit from the channel are keen to maintain the cleanliness of the channels periodically” Abood said gladly.