Rome, 18 November 2011 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide a US$9.1 million grant to the Republic of Yemen to create nation-wide economic opportunities for poor small-scale fisher households.  

The grant agreement for the Fisheries Investment Project was signed today by Khalid Abdulrahman Al-Akwa, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Yemen to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome, and Kanayo F. Nwanze, IFAD President.

Yemen’s extensive territorial waters and marine resources are the most productive in the world; however, the fishing industry is relatively underdeveloped with most fishermen using traditional boats and lacking modern equipment. The fisheries sector is considered to be the third, in order of importance, in Yemen's economy after oil and agriculture, and contribute to approximately 3 per cent of the country's GDP. More than 220,000 people depend on fishing as their principal source of income.

The new project will focus on upgrading the fisheries value chain, particularly for poor fishers and develop aquaculture. It will introduce regulation and effective enforcement to avert over-fishing of some valuable species. In addition, the project will help to create jobs for young people in the areas covered by the project.

The project will cover all nine governorates along the Yemeni coast, including the Socotra Archipelago. It will be managed by the Economic Opportunities Fund, a new public-private partnership recently established in Yemen; and will create sustainable and diversified economic opportunities for the poor women and men in fishing communities. More than 45,000 households consisting of women and young people will benefit directly from the project.

With this new project, IFAD will have financed 21 programmes and projects in Yemen for a total investment of US$223.9 million benefiting 573,240 households.

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Press release No.: IFAD/84/2011

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested about US$13.2 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries through projects empowering about 400 million people to break out of poverty, thereby helping to create vibrant rural communities. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the United Nation’s food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 167 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).