27 May 2010: The World Bank has approved a US$5 million project to support efforts by the Government of Yemen to enhance capacity and awareness for government agencies to respond to climate variability and change, and to better equip local communities to cope with climate change through the conservation and use of agro-biodiversity.

The project includes a US$4 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and will encourage water harvesting and increasing irrigation efficiency as part of a climate-resilient “win-win strategy.” It will also include climate considerations in the identification and improvement of some select landraces to test for drought and heat tolerance.
The Project is also expected to: build on traditional knowledge of farmers and develop an inventory of local agro-biodiversity; raise awareness on climatic changes and develop initial local predictive capacity of weather patterns and long-term climate change scenarios for the country; and develop a climate resilient rain-fed agriculture strategy. [World Bank Press Release]