Powered by IFAD

Rural poverty in Yemen

The Republic of Yemen is one of the driest, poorest and least developed countries in the world. Poverty and food insecurity are strongly linked with the depletion and degradation of land and water resources. It is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world – each Yemeni’s average share of renewable water resources is about one tenth of the average in most Middle Eastern countries and one fiftieth of the world average.

Poverty affects nearly 42 per cent of the country’s population and is mainly a rural phenomenon. Over 80 per cent of poor people reside in rural areas, and almost half of them live on less than US$2 a day. Small-scale farmers, sharecroppers, landless people, nomadic herders and artisanal fishers all suffer from inadequate access to basic necessities such as land, safe water, health care services and education.

The population is young and growing rapidly. Two thirds of Yemenis are under 24 years old, and half are less than 15 years of age. More than 50 per cent of all children suffer from malnutrition. Women are also particularly disadvantaged. In addition to their heavy domestic workload, they provide 60 per cent of the labour in crop cultivation and more than 90 per cent in tending livestock. Despite their vital contributions to the rural economy, women have very limited access to economic, social and political opportunities. Many are illiterate and on average they earn 30 per cent less than men.

Poverty is most prevalent in the highlands, the semi-desert areas in the east and northeast, the sand dune strip and areas of the central Tihama plain, and in fishing villages on the Arabian Sea. Food insecurity is most severe in rural highland areas where population densities are high and landholdings are very small.  

Although only about 2.5 per cent of the country’s land is arable, agriculture is the backbone of the rural economy, with around 90 per cent of rural households involved in crop or livestock production. However, due to low productivity few households can support themselves on agriculture alone and most rely on income from employment or remittances.

The main agricultural areas are the terraced, mostly rainfed highland zones and irrigated lowlands in the centre and along the coasts of the Red and Arabian Seas. Yemen produces a limited variety of crops, including coffee, fruit, pulses and vegetables. Khat, a controversial mild stimulant drug is also produced. It plays a major role in the economy, accounting for 8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 40 per cent of agricultural GDP. Nearly 15 per cent of the workforce is employed in its marketing and production, which uses 40 per cent of the country’s water resources. Typical households spend five times more money on khat than on education.  

A significant portion of the terraced farming system is deteriorating because of neglect and lack of maintenance, and the country’s fishery resources have been subject to overexploitation. As a result, Yemen is a food-deficient country that produces less than a third of its needs and imports nearly US$1 billion worth of foodstuffs annually, including 70 per cent of its wheat and 90 per cent of its rice.

Source: IFAD