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Yemeni Capacity-Building Workshop for Climate Adaptation

Photo collage: Elham giving a presentation, a sign with the name of the conference, and a photo of the Columbia Global Center in Amman.
A presentation during the conference, the conference poster and the Columbia Global Center in Amman. Photo: Helen Avery

CMES scholar Helen Avery organized a well-attended and successful two-day workshop on community capacity-building in Yemen for climate adaptation.

The workshop, "Community capacity-building in Yemen for climate adaptation of agriculture and water management in remote rural areas – short- and long-term strategies to support resilience, agility and food security", was held at the Columbia Global Center in Amman on 11-12 August, 2022. It was organized by Helen Avery, researcher at CMES, and former CMES affiliated researcher Mohammed Almahfali in cooperation with the Association of Yemeni Academics and Professionals (AYAP)

The workshop, funded by Formas, brought together academics with Yemeni and international organisations. Representatives from ministries in North and South Yemen participated in the workshop, as well as representatives from the World Bank, FAO, UN Habitat, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and different NGOs, such as an agricultural collective from Jordan.

The workshop focused on climate adaptation in farming communities, with special attention to the role of women in Yemeni agriculture. Strategies for training farmers and developing communities' capacity to rapidly adapt to changing climate and weather patterns were discussed. The main purpose was to provide a forum to discuss immediate action feasible under the present circumstances and identify potential sites for pilot projects that can serve as models for larger scale capacity-building that takes into account local specificities, as well as to map synergies with ongoing work and possible partners for the pilot projects. Despite the difficult situation in Yemen and continued need for humanitarian action, participants underlined the urgency of technical collaboration for climate change adaptation in agriculture and water management. Sustainable land use and adaptation of water  infrastructure is essential both for food security and to prevent the devastating floods that climate change is causing.