Ahmed M.

Al-wadaey
Assistant Professor
Soil and Water Department
Sana’a University
Feb 25, 2013
 Introduction
 Despite agriculture’s relatively low contribution to
GDP(21%), the sector remains the most important
element of the efforts to combats poverty and
provide employment to the majority of the poor in
Yemen rural’s areas.
 GDP per capita around 600 USD
 Small land based: around 1.2 Mln Has of arablel and
against 24 Mln of population
 Oil sector is dominant: around 27% of GDP and 90%
of merchandise exports
 Scarcity of water and infrastructure
 The cultivated area of Yemen is estimated to be about
1,188,888 ha (hectares) of which 54% is depending on
rainfall, while 46% is irrigated by groundwater (407896
ha.)
 Agriculture employs 54-60% of Yemeni population.
 The main agricultural crops products in Yemen are;
 fruits (mango, grape, citrus, banana papaya and date),
vegetables (tomato, potato, water and sweet melon,
onion and cucumber), cereals (maize, wheat, sorghum
and barley), high value crops (sesame, cotton, tobacco
and coffee) and Qat.
 1. Upper Highlands (above 1,900 m): temperate, rainy summer and a cool,
moderately dry winter
 2. Lower Highlands (below 1,900 m): Precipitation ranges from 0 mm to 400
mm and the temperature in the summer reaches 40°C.
 3. Red Sea and Tihama Plain: tropical, hot and humid climate, while
 rainfall averages only 130 mm annually and occurs in irregular, torrential storms.
 4. Arabian sea cost: average temperature of 25°C in January and 32°C in June,
with an average annual rainfall of 127 mm
 5. Internal Plateau: characterized by a desert environment
 6. Desert

 Climate change poses a significant threat to Yemen’s development, with rising

temperature projections and increasing in variance of rainfall
 Climate-related hazards in Yemen include extreme temperatures, floods,
landslides, sea level rise, and droughts.
ostal areas The Desert

The Eastern Plateau

Yemen mountain
massif

Costal areas The Islands

 Water resources
 The rainfall is considered as the mean water resources in Yemen and
the average annual rainfall ranges from less than 50 mm in the
coastal areas and the deserts to 200-400 mm on the slopes of the
highlands and more than 1000 mm on the western slopes of the
mountains
 The annual water consumption is estimated as 3.4 billion cubic
meters.
 More than 90% of annually consumed water goes to meet agriculture
demand out of this only 40% is actually used by plants and the
remaining water resources are wasted either as deep percolation or
as evaporation
 The annual renewable water is estimated as
2.5 billion cubic meters (1.5 billion m3 as
surface water and 1 billion m3 as ground
water), so the overdrew is about 0.9 billion m3
withdrawer every year from the conserved
ground water stoke throw more than 50
thousands wells that had been drilled.
 1. Food Security: The achievement of high
levels of food security that depends on the
domestic agriculture production of food.
 2. Combating Poverty: Support the anti-poverty
efforts exerted in rural communities.
 3. Sustainable Growth: The realization of
sustainable growth at rates that should at least
be not less than the population growth rate.
 RainfedSystems: This is the leading prevalent
agricultural system, which occupies about 53% of
the total cultivated areas

 IrrigatedSystems: This includes groundwater,

runoff and spring irrigated systems , which account
for 47%, with groundwater irrigation at 30%, spate
irrigation at 12% and spring water irrigation at 5%
accordingly
 Yemeni Agriculture is characterized by the
diversity of its climatic features, especially the
level of rainfall, temperature and humidity and
the different topographical conditions.

 Thislead to the diversity of the plant regions and

accordingly helped to diversify production.
However, the reliance of a number of the regions
on rainfed agriculture affects the sustainability of
agricultural production, apart from the poor
productivity per unit area
 Agriculturalproduction is classified as:
 plant production,
 Livestock production
 Fish production,
 Pasturage and forestry production
 Agriculture production significantly contributes
to domestic trade, and to foreign trade by the
export of fruits and vegetables (to Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, Djibouti, and some of the other Gulf
states), various livestock exports, leather skins
and fresh fish exports, this is in addition to the
entry of honey, cotton and fish as relatively
significant products in foreign trade.
 Itcan be broken down as follows:
 53% of the agricultural land depend on
rainwater (rainfed systems);
 30% depends on groundwater extracted from
wells (irrigated systems);
 12% depends on floods (spate irrigated); and
 5% depends on springs
 Water Scarcity,
 Qat Competition,
 Low Agricultural Productivity
Yemen is facing deterioration of it agricultural land
in some of the regions. This is exemplified by
 The increase of soil salinity, which leads to the
reduction of its productivity;
 and desertification, especially in the Tihama
Strip, Delta Abyan, Wadi Hadhramaut, Mareb and
Shabwa areas.
Reports indicate that from 3% to 5% of the
agricultural land is subject to sand dune
encroachment and eventually to desertification
 Natural:(scarcity
of land, scarcity of water,
drought/floods, soil erosion, and desertification

 Technical: use of inefficient technology, poor

production structures, inadequacy of rainfed
agriculture, inefficient livestock production
 Low productivity, poor management of
pastureland, the unsuitable methods of water
use
 Social: Insecure holdings; high population
growth; poor awareness, poor health conditions;
malnutrition; poor education, Differences in
consumption habits, and the use of qat.
 Economic:
 Inadequate credit facilities, shortage of job
opportunities; high prices, low incomes, and
increasing poverty.
 Institutional:
Poor institutional structuring; failure of the
sector strategies, the lack of clear policies;
shortage and poor quality of information; poor
institutional capacity of the staff; the problem
of equity, poor effectiveness and efficiency.
 Legal:
Inadequate legal framework, poor law
enforcement and application
 Exploring alternative production methods with
emphasis on the conservation and efficient use
of water, the development of watersheds and
the improvement of water harvesting
techniques
 Encouragement of scientific researches on the
qat phenomenon and its effects, economically,
socially and health wise, as well as the impact
of using chemical pesticides on qat and dealing
with qat as a crop that is worthy of being
included in agricultural extension
Thank you