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YEMEN / SOLAR WATER PUMPS
STORY: YEMEN / SOLAR WATER PUMPS
TRT: 07:10
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: MARCH 2020, IBB GOVERNORATE, YEMEN
1. Wide shot, child walking in backlight
2. Med shot, child walking on the grass
3. Wide shot, child walking by a corn field
4. Pan right, around a tree
5. Tilt up, Rashed Abdullah walking
6. Med shot, Rashed Abdullah walking through the trees
7. Med shot, Rashed Abdullah surrounded by trees looking around
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rashed Abdullah, Farmer:
“When I was a child, I used to go with my father to our farm. The beauty of the farmlands and the example my father set inspired me to become a farmer. I grew up farming. I worked the land since childhood and made that my career. I thought I could build a happy family and have children.”
9. Wide shot, flowing river
10. Wide shot, Rashed Abdullah sitting by the river
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rashed Abdullah, Farmer:
“The conflict has had a huge impact on our farms because of the lack of water which lead to crop shortages.”
12. Close up, dry leaves on a tree
13. Med shot, Rashed Abdullah walking towards a tree
14. Med shot, Rashed Abdullah removing dry branches from a tree
15. Close up, Rashed’s hand holding dry branches
16. Close up, Water dripping out of a pipe
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rashed Abdullah, Farmer:
“We used to irrigate our farms with seasonal rain-water flowing from streams. But those are exhausted, our crops die.”
18. Close up, Rashed Abdullah hand digging the earth
19. Med shot, Rashed Abdullah removing grass from the farm
20. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rashed Abdullah, Farmer:
“We also used to pay to irrigate from a small well, about 1,500 meters from our farm.”
21. Tilt down, Rashed resting by window
22. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rashed Abdullah, Farmer:
“But if we can’t afford to pay the cost of irrigation, our farms and livelihoods collapse.”
23. Close up, cow eating grass
24. Various shots, woman and children sitting in the field with a cow in background
25. Wide shot, cows in an animal farm
26. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rashed Abdullah, Farmer:
“Some farmers had to resort to selling their livestock to pay the water bill of the well.
27. Wide shot, group of men including Rashed Abdullah and Murtada Ahmed, Head of Water Users Association, sitting under trees
28. Med shot, men talking
29. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Murtada Ahmed, Head of Water Users Association:
“Many farmers like Rashed were severely affected before FAO reached the area and provided them with assistance. Pumping water without using fuel significantly changed our lives.”
30. Wide shot, village with cultivated land
31. Aerial shot, fields and trees
32. Various shots, Murtada Ahmed, Head of Water Users Association, cleaning solar panels
33. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Murtada Ahmed, Head of Water Users Association,:
“When we saw water being pumped by the FAO solar power system, our happiness was indescribable.”
34. Wide shot, Murtada Ahmed cleaning solar panels
35. Wide shot, solar panels
36. Close up, water tank with European Union and FAO logos
37. Med shot, water running out of a tube
38. Various shots, water running into fields
39. Wide shot, farmer at work
40. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Murtada Ahmed, Head of Water Users Association,: “The solar powered water pump system saved time, reduced costs, and empowered farmers to return to their agricultural livelihoods after having abandoned them.”
41. SOUNDBITE (English) Joel Munywoki, Chief Technical Advisor, Food and Agriculture Association (FAO):
“The project was lucky to procure 42 solar water pumps. The 42 solar water pumps were not given to different households. But they were given to a group of households within a catchment area. So, the farmers, they group together in a water users association and they were given solar water pump. So, the impact is huge. They were able to benefit from the nutritional value of the crop they produced.”
42. Various shots, group of men including Rashed Abdullah and Murtada Ahmed talking
43. Wide shot, men work in the field
44. Close up, Rashed Abdullah working in the field
45. Various shots, fruit and vegetable market
46. SOUNDBITE (English) Joel Munywoki, Chief Technical Advisor, Food and Agriculture Association (FAO):
“Many farmers have given us a positive feedback that the solar water pump is the real deal. They don’t need to buy fuel, so while the pump is installed and there is sun. Yemen is blessed with the sun all the around. So, while they have the pump they get the water, they get the water directly to their farms. Still our project has been able to procure drip irrigation system to the farmers. So, over the years EU really helped us to achieve quite a lot.”
47. Pan left, water pump
48. Med shot, Murtada Ahmed opening the door of the box to access an electrical panel
49. Close up, Murtada Ahmed switching on electricity
50. Tilt up, solar panels
51. Close up, water running out from a tube
52. Tilt up, from an irrigated field to hills and a village
53. Zoom out, fruits on a tree
54. Aerial shot, village
55. Various shots, Rashed Abdullah inside his house, leaving the house, and walking through corn fields
56. Close up, Rashed Abdullah harvesting
57. Wide shot, Rashed Abdullah at work with other farmers
58. Various shots, Rashed Abdullah gathering and selling vegetables
59. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rashed Abdullah, Farmer:
“Thirty families are now able to irrigate their farmlands with the solar powered water pump. We rely on it to grow our food and survive.”
60. Med shot, children studying at home
61. Med shot, Rashed Abdullah entering his house
62. Med shot, Rashed Abdullah talking with his children
63. Med shot, woman walking out of kitchen with food
64. Close up, hands picking food from a pot
65. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rashed Abdullah, Farmer:
“My children are in school now. I see for them a better future.”
66. Med shot, Rashed Abdullah and his children eating
67. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rashed Abdullah, Farmer:
“Thanks to God, our life has changed after the solar powered water system was installed. We are no longer worried about paying the fuel required for irrigation. Many farmers and I benefited.”
68. Various shots, Rashed Abdullah and his children
A Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and European Union project tackles water scarcity and rising fuel costs with new irrigation methods in Ibb Governorate, Yemen.
Yemen is predominantly a rural country, with close to 70 percent of its population living outside urban areas. Irrigated agriculture is the primary source of food, employment and economic activity.
Water scarcity poses one of the most significant constraints to increasing food production in a country where more than half the population requires food assistance. Further, the sustained fuel crisis across the country has affected thousands of farmers who use fuel-operated pumps for irrigation.
FAO, in partnership with the European Union, is supporting farmers by providing them with solar-powered pumps, water-saving drip irrigation kits and training on improved farming practices.
Rashed Abdullah, 37 years old, is a farmer from Ibb governorate, a southwest region of Yemen, who relies on the agricultural livelihoods to survive and feed his family. Rashed explains: “we used to irrigate our farms with seasonal rain-water flowing from streams. But those are exhausted, our crops die.”
Rashed is a member of the Water Users Association (WUA) formed in his village by FAO for better water resources management. The farmers associated are now benefiting from a solar-powered community water well established through a FAO-European Union (EU) project. This well serves a community of 400 people in the Ibb governorate.
Every second week, the taps leading to Rashed’s crops are turned on to irrigate his farmland.
“Many farmers like Rashed were severely affected before FAO reached the area and provided them with assistance. Pumping water without using fuel significantly changed our lives” says Murtada Ahmed, head of the local WUA.
Recognizing the role of irrigated agriculture in resuscitating rural livelihoods in the country, FAO and the EU partnered to roll out the two-year USD 12.8 million “Enhancing Yemen Food Security Information Systems and Rural Livelihoods Programme” for 150 990 Yemeni people affected by the conflict. The project has set up 42 similar water pumps in various districts across the country, boosting agricultural resilience to economic and ecological shocks. It also focuses on improving water management, scaling up use of appropriate food production technology, improving value chains and creating on/off-farm employment opportunities.
FAO Chief Technical advisor Joel Munywoki explains “The 42 solar water pumps were not given to different households. But they were given to a group of households within a catchment area. So, the farmers, they group together in a water users association and they were given solar water pump. So, the impact is huge. They were able to benefit from the nutritional value of the crop they produced.”
“Thanks to God, our life has changed after the solar powered water system was installed. We are no longer worried about paying the fuel required for irrigation. Many farmers and I benefited.” Says Rashed Abdullah who adds: “My children are in school now. I see for them a better future”.
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