Seeds of change: Women farmers in Yemen grow food, income, and confidence

By Ammar Al-Hajj July 8, 2025

“Our neighbors come to ask how we grew our gardens,” Bushra says with pride. “We share seeds and advice. We are closer as a community now.” All photos: Albra’a/CARE

In the conflict-scarred hills of Taiz Governorate, a quiet transformation is taking root — one garden at a time. For mother-of-six Bushra, what once seemed impossible is now growing in her own backyard: food for her family, income for her children’s school supplies, and a deep sense of pride.

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As of March 2025, an estimated 18.2 million people across Yemen — more than half the country’s population — are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection services. Yemen remains gripped by a prolonged series of crises, with millions struggling to access basic needs like nutritious food, clean water, healthcare, and education. This has all been made worse by economic collapse and environment-related shocks that continue to displace families and devastate livelihoods.

Food shortages and financial struggles are widespread across Taiz. Ongoing conflict, increasing prices, and limited access to farming tools and supplies have profoundly affected household incomes and food availability. Many families cannot afford even the most basic food items, while opportunities to make money remain scarce.

A group of veiled women participate in an agricultural education session in Yemen.
CARE and WFP provided 200 women farmers with seeds, tools, irrigation systems, and training throughout the growing cycle.

Bushra once lived in the city of Taiz, but, like many others, she fled to a rural sub-district when violence escalated. Life in displacement was difficult, and the future was uncertain. The soaring cost of food and lack access to diverse diets made it a daily struggle just to feed her children.

That struggle began to ease when, with support from the World Food Programme (WFP), CARE Yemen launched a home gardening initiative in Bushra’s area. The program targeted women from 200 displaced households that were not already receiving assistance. Bushra qualified to participate. As part of the broader Food Assistance approach, the initiative is improving access to food, creating income opportunities, and empowering women through long-term, small-scale agriculture.

“Before this project, we relied only on the market, which was far, and prices were high,” says Bushra. “We couldn’t afford our basic needs.”

Program participants received vegetable seeds, farming tools, irrigation systems to help water the crops, and hands-on training from planting to harvest and beyond.

“Everything we needed for farming was provided to us,” Bushra recalls. “There was nothing missing.”

To make the training easier to attend, CARE held sessions near participants’ homes. The lessons were designed for women with low literacy levels and centered around practical demonstrations, so participants learned by seeing and doing together. The participating women worked together, encouraging and reinforcing each other’s new skills during lessons and when they returned home. After the training sessions, agricultural extension workers from the Taiz Governate Office of Agriculture regularly visited the women’s home gardens to provide hands-on support and address any questions or issues they might be facing. This support ensured that every participant could fully benefit from the program.

A veiled woman cultivates a backyard garden in Yemen.
After the first training session, Bushra returned home to prepare her garden, where she would grow okra, zucchini, radishes, tomatoes, and chili peppers.

Although participants faced challenges including water scarcity, high fertilizer and tool prices, and limited access to land, the project’s results have been profound. Many women not only grew vegetables for their families but also began selling their extra produce in local markets, providing fresh food for others, and earning income for themselves.

“There’s a huge difference in our living conditions now,” Bushra reports. “We can grow our own food. I’m happy because I eat what I’m growing. The extra I sell in the local market, and with the money I can buy school supplies for my children.”

In addition to improving nutrition and helping families earn more money, the project led to meaningful personal and community-wide change, especially for women.

Using a process called Outcome Harvesting, CARE collected real examples of how people’s lives were changing. 27% of results were related to women feeling more powerful — including feeling more confident, included, and respected when making decisions for their families. Another 27% of outcomes focused on economic improvements for women and their families, including improved income, reduced household spending, and stronger local markets, all thanks to the home gardens. The project also led to better farming practices, stronger relationships among neighbors, and lasting ways for communities to support one another. For example, the participants created informal groups to share seeds, advice, and support. Others used the confidence and economic skills they gained from selling vegetables to trade other goods and start new businesses.

Bushra has seen many of these changes firsthand. “Before, I did not think I could earn money or decide what to plant. Now, I feel respected because I contribute to the family,” she says. “Our neighbors come to ask how we grew our gardens. We share seeds and advice. We are closer as a community.”

A veiled figure wearing a CARE cap waters plants in a garden in Yemen.
The home garden project improved more than just nutrition and incomes. It helped forge a stronger, more resilient community.

Educators, program facilitators, and agricultural extension workers who assisted with the program all noted its unique impacts.

“What I’m most proud of is how the women became teachers themselves, showing others how to plant, water, and harvest,” says CARE officer AbdulHakim Alariki. “It’s creating change that goes beyond our project.”

Even after the formal five-month training concluded, the gardens have continued to flourish, thanks to ongoing assistance from extension workers, peer learning groups, and connections to local agricultural offices. CARE and WFP are now exploring ways to expand the initiative into other districts, reaching more at-risk communities facing similar challenges.

“This project was unique because it didn’t just give food, it gave women the tools and confidence to produce their own,” says Saleem Sultan, a CARE Food Security and Livelihoods Field Assistant. “Seeing them become decision-makers in their homes has been the most rewarding part.”

As these gardens continue to bloom, so too does a renewed sense of dignity, self-determination, and resilience among the women who tend them — proving that with the right support, even the smallest seeds can grow into lasting change.

Empowering Women Farmers in Taiz

In conflict-affected Yemen, CARE and WFP helped 200 women grow food, income, and confidence through sustainable home gardens.

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