Cereal production in Yemen has declined for the second consecutive year due mainly to a lack of rainfall, according to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Abdulmalik al-Thawr.
Yemen’s grain production, including sorghum and wheat, declined to 675,000 tons in 2009 from 715,000 in 2008, according to the government’s Central Statistics Organization (CSO).
While aggregate cereal production in 2009 was only slightly lower than in the previous year, it was about 24 percent less than the 2007 bumper crop, according to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“Most of the water sources in valleys producing grain dried up… About 97 percent of the country’s agricultural land is threatened by desertification," al-Thawr said.
Ismail Muharram, head of the Agricultural Research & Development Authority based in the central governorate of Dhamar, said agriculture in Yemen largely depended on rainwater.
"The rainfall season was three weeks late, and as a result many crops withered, particularly in the central highlands," he said, pointing out that 2009 rainfall was much lower than average.
Impact of northern conflict
According to Muharram, conflict in the north is another factor behind the decline in food output.
"Many farmers from various districts in the northern governorates of Saada and Amran fled their farms, which have been left untended,” he said, noting that those farmers used to be responsible for about 20 percent of the country's cereal production.
FAO estimates that two million people - including conflict-affected civilians, refugees, and other vulnerable people - are likely to face increased food insecurity, requiring targeted food assistance estimated at about 100,000 tons during 2010.
Increasing `qat’ burden
`Qat’, a mildly narcotic leaf chewed by many Yemenis, accounts for one third of the value of agricultural production, and its plantation area is expanding every year - a fact that is also contributing to the steady drop in grain production, according to environmental specialist Mohamed al-Ariqi.
"Arable land used for `qat’ is expanding by 9 percent a year, whereas land used for grain and other crops is steadily shrinking,” he said, adding that `qat’ trees take up to 40 percent of annually consumed water supplies in the country.
Even the poorest households try and find money for ‘qat’. A recent WFP/UNICEF survey found that nearly half of pregnant and breastfeeding women consume the leaf, with detrimental effects on the nutritional status of mothers and children.
Food insecurity “severe”
A 19 February report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said the vast majority of Yemeni households are net food buyers, even in rural areas, and only 4 percent of rural households are net food sellers. With cereal imports accounting for up to 80 percent of consumption requirements (90 percent for wheat and 100 percent for rice), the recent surge in international food prices has significantly affected domestic prices and affordability.
"Chronic household food insecurity is widespread and severe, and the country has one of the worst malnutrition rates in the world," Mohammed Bashir, head of local NGO Agricultural Cooperation Union, told IRIN.
A 25 February press release by the World Food Programme (WFP) set out preliminary results from its comprehensive food security survey:
• 32 percent of the population is food insecure, i.e. suffering from acute hunger;
• 12 percent of the population suffers from severe food insecurity;
• One in 10 children under five are acutely malnourished;
• 25 percent of all women of child-bearing age are malnourished.
Meanwhile, the government - supported by international donors such as the European Commission, World Bank and German Agency for Technical Cooperation - is developing a national food security strategy, which is expected to be finalized in May 2010, al-Thawr said.
Al-Thawr also called for the development of a water management strategy and a food security information system.
ay/at/cb/oa
Yemen’s grain production, including sorghum and wheat, declined to 675,000 tons in 2009 from 715,000 in 2008, according to the government’s Central Statistics Organization (CSO).
While aggregate cereal production in 2009 was only slightly lower than in the previous year, it was about 24 percent less than the 2007 bumper crop, according to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“Most of the water sources in valleys producing grain dried up… About 97 percent of the country’s agricultural land is threatened by desertification," al-Thawr said.
Ismail Muharram, head of the Agricultural Research & Development Authority based in the central governorate of Dhamar, said agriculture in Yemen largely depended on rainwater.
"The rainfall season was three weeks late, and as a result many crops withered, particularly in the central highlands," he said, pointing out that 2009 rainfall was much lower than average.
Impact of northern conflict
According to Muharram, conflict in the north is another factor behind the decline in food output.
"Many farmers from various districts in the northern governorates of Saada and Amran fled their farms, which have been left untended,” he said, noting that those farmers used to be responsible for about 20 percent of the country's cereal production.
Photo: Adel Yahya/IRIN  |
| Agriculture employs more than half of the labour force and provides an income to more than two-thirds of the population |
Increasing `qat’ burden
`Qat’, a mildly narcotic leaf chewed by many Yemenis, accounts for one third of the value of agricultural production, and its plantation area is expanding every year - a fact that is also contributing to the steady drop in grain production, according to environmental specialist Mohamed al-Ariqi.
"Arable land used for `qat’ is expanding by 9 percent a year, whereas land used for grain and other crops is steadily shrinking,” he said, adding that `qat’ trees take up to 40 percent of annually consumed water supplies in the country.
Even the poorest households try and find money for ‘qat’. A recent WFP/UNICEF survey found that nearly half of pregnant and breastfeeding women consume the leaf, with detrimental effects on the nutritional status of mothers and children.
Food insecurity “severe”
A 19 February report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said the vast majority of Yemeni households are net food buyers, even in rural areas, and only 4 percent of rural households are net food sellers. With cereal imports accounting for up to 80 percent of consumption requirements (90 percent for wheat and 100 percent for rice), the recent surge in international food prices has significantly affected domestic prices and affordability.
"Chronic household food insecurity is widespread and severe, and the country has one of the worst malnutrition rates in the world," Mohammed Bashir, head of local NGO Agricultural Cooperation Union, told IRIN.
A 25 February press release by the World Food Programme (WFP) set out preliminary results from its comprehensive food security survey:
• 32 percent of the population is food insecure, i.e. suffering from acute hunger;
• 12 percent of the population suffers from severe food insecurity;
• One in 10 children under five are acutely malnourished;
• 25 percent of all women of child-bearing age are malnourished.
Meanwhile, the government - supported by international donors such as the European Commission, World Bank and German Agency for Technical Cooperation - is developing a national food security strategy, which is expected to be finalized in May 2010, al-Thawr said.
Al-Thawr also called for the development of a water management strategy and a food security information system.
ay/at/cb/oa
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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