What is unique about the plant.
Yeheb is versatile rare and wild crop which grows well in arid region of the Horn of Africa. It has a great potential for being domesticated as stable food resource in drylands but also the potential to be used for soil conservation in managing land management.
Regeneration of Yeheb in the original habitats would reduce chronic food insecurity in the drought-zones of the Horn of Africa. It could be part of a wider climate change adaptive strategies to bring back sustainable livelihoods for many of the pastoralist communities in the region.
Why Yeheb rather than another plant.
Yeheb has the potential to be used for soil conservation, mulching and hedgerow. The oil is used for soap making and the wood is used as firewood. It would help land and soil management in arid pastoralist areas of the Horn of Africa.
Yeheb is marketed locally with production less than demand. However it has a great potential for development as a food resource for the semi-arid regions and a very high potential as a dessert crop.
Regeneration of Yeheb plant in the indigenous habitats will reduce chronic food insecurity in Somalia where droughts are cyclical. It would also be an ideal for any adaptive strategies to bring back sustainable livelihood for pastoralist communities in post conflict Somalia.
The nut can also be marketed worldwide as a delicacy. It has a great potential to become an ingredient in food or medicine.
The stages of the project and how they will help the people in Somaliland and elsewhere.
Aims for Yeheb
Match funding will be provided by Initiatives of Change by donating staff and volunteer time.
It is planned to raise modest funding from individual supporters for specific items of direct benefit to the communities (e.g. hand tools) and to apply for funds from other bodies to support the project e.g. through additional capacity-building. Local partners and the communities themselves will contribute significant in-kind funding through their work to fence the two sites; nurturing the seedlings and taking part in measurements of biodiversity and the growth of the Yeheb plants.
