Climate Change, Food Security and Agricultural Extension in Yemen

Climate change is challenging the agricultural sector globally and has undermined food security in some countries. Yemen is suffering catastrophic food insecurity attributed to climate change and war. To reduce this food insecurity, agriculture extension workers must facilitate climate-smart agriculture. Of 52 agricultural extension workers who took a climate-smart survey, most (97%) extension workers had observed climatic shifts, including rising temperatures and droughts, with 81% finding climate change a major threat to agriculture. A high percentage of (77%) agricultural extension workers surveyed reported never attending training workshops on climate change issues, receiving their information from different media, including agriculture research centers (72%), subject matter specialists (67%), and social media (60%). Major barriers to climate-smart extension programs that support sustainable food production for food security in Yemen include a lack of training of programs for extension workers concerning climate change issues, low competence regarding climate change adaptation issues, insufficient number of extension workers to serve farmers, and lack of coordination between extension services and agricultural research centers. Adaptation extension work was undertaken at a moderate level by 61% of respondents, with over half (67%) complaining about having few resources for climate change adaptation programming (67%). Further programming and resources are needed for agricultural extension workers to help farmers combat climate change, food security and malnutrition in Yemen.