Taiz Governorate is located in the south western part of the Republic of Yemen, bordering the Red Sea to the west, Hodaidah and Ibb governorates to the north, Lahj to the south, and Al-Dhale governorate to the east.
Yemen is the second largest state by area on the Arabian Peninsula, where it is situated at the southernmost tip between latitudes 12°N and 20°N and longitudes 41°E and 54°E. Administratively, the country is divided into 21 governorates and 333 districts.
Taiz is Yemen’s most populous governorate, with an estimated 2,839,206 people – 12.15% of the country’s population (2011 population projection based on 2004 census). Lahj Governorate is located in the southern part of Yemen and borders the Gulf of Aden to the south. Its surface area is about 12,650 km² and it has an estimated population of 722,692 people.
This Cost of the Diet study was undertaken as part of a series of other studies in the DFID funded “Improved Food Security and Resilience project” aimed at generating evidence based research to inform both short and longer term programme development in Taiz and Lahj Governorates in Yemen.
The aim of this analysis was to assess the degree to which economic constraints might prevent households in the Taiz and Lahj Midland labour and Livestock livelihood zone from having access to a nutritious diet.
The data collection and analysis set out to answer the following questions:
- What is the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet for a typical household in the Taiz and Lahj Midland Labour and Livestock livelihood zone of Taiz and Lahj Governorates, Yemen.
- What nutrients have the greatest influence on the cost of a nutritious diet?
- Are there any neglected or underutilized foods that could decrease the cost of a nutritious diet?
- How affordable is the diet for a typical household in different wealth groups?
- How might the proposed cash for work (CFW) intervention improve access to a nutritious diet by households in the assessment area?