Cash for work in Razih secures water, food, work and other benefits

Poverty prevails 91% of population of Althawahir and Bani Hudhaifah villages, on mountains of Razih district (Sa'ada Governorate). Population there does not have sustainable sources of income. The area has still been suffering impacts of several climatic, political and economic shocks making it severely vulnerable while surrounding mountains restrict their movement for displacement or livelihood. The Social Fund for Development targeted the area with a cash-for-work project in order to increase the people's resilience to adapt to impacts of the shocks.
Poverty has intensified here due to the last six wars in Sa'ada and drought. As a result, the population suffered food insecurity and drop in the number of livestock. And the people remain without work after their livelihoods have been perished.
The local people also suffered lack of drinking water, and women crossed rugged and long road an hour away from the village in order to get 20 liters of water. Saleh Ali Jaber expresses the suffering "We were tired to get water. We used to do a one-hour trip to fetch water from the spring. We take a queue as early as 2 pm hours, and each family gets 20 liters. We do not have road and water containers were carried by women and donkeys."

In response to those compound, hard conditions, the SFD cash-for-work projects intervened engaging the community in building 62 household rainwater collecting tanks, and rehabilitating agricultural terraces of a total area of half a hectare worth a total of $98,000. Some 459 people in 72 households have directly attained access to drinking water and cereals during rain seasons. Females also were given time access to education,.
As a result, SFD has provided temporary income generating employments with a priority for female-headed households in the current critical times across the country. The project generated a total of 20,157 working days, including 2,872 for females.
The project has indirect benefits. Some participants in the project purchased varied assets for sustainable income generation that secures most basic needs. The 72 beneficiary households purchased 50 goats, 10 calves, 6 sewing machines and 17 rock drilling compressors.
The SFD teams focused on awareness campaigns to encourage beneficiaries to take advantage of their work wages to improve and diversify food and nutrition of their households, as well as to purchase income generating assets for resilience of their families. " I and my brothers benefited from the first payment of wages as we ought food and compressors for rent," said the beneficiary Salih Jaber Qassim. The widow Bahjah Hassan also said "I worked in the my water reservoir, and I bought food for my children and two goats"
In addition, 44 participants gained building skills that helped gave them access to the labor market. One of them, Dhaif Ali Jaber said "I learned from the project how to refine stones and how to build. I and my sons built our water tank ourselves, and my son Abdullah learned stone cutting."