Ahmed M. Al-wadaey Assistant Professor Soil and Water Department Sana’a University Feb 25, 2013

 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 Introduction

 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 ( 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.

The Eastern Plateau The Desert Costal areas Yemen mountain massif The Islands Costal areas

 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 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 Water resources

 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.

 Rainfed Systems: This is the leading prevalent agricultural system, which occupies about 53% of the total cultivated areas  Irrigated Systems: 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.  This lead 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

 Agricultural production 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.

 It can 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