Malnutrition in Yemen © Mohammad al-Jabri / IRIN News

The country was in the midst of its own food crisis before global food prices became headline news. Almost 13% of Yemenis exist below the food poverty line and the World Food Programme (WFP) is actively assisting 1.6 million people. 46% of children under-five are underweight compared with 30% in 1992.

The source of the problem is a long term decline in Yemen’s grain production brought about by inadequate attention to environmental sustainability, in particular depletion of groundwater and degradation of soil resources in a region highly prone to desertification. An investigation by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) warns that water basins may be depleted “in the very near future” unless Yemen introduces painful measures to halve both agricultural water consumption and the wastage in urban use. Furthermore, farmers have reported unusual delays in the onset of rains, a reminder that potential climate change creates additional uncertainty. Food security in Yemen is also seriously undermined by the use of good land for the cultivation of qat (a mild narcotic with amphetamine-like properties) which by contrast to grain production is increasing at over 10% pa and relies on traditional inefficient groundwater irrigation.

The consequence is that Yemen imports as much as 75% of its food requirements. Although protected by the parallel rise in the value of oil exports, the country is vulnerable to shortages in world stocks and its poorest households may have no mechanism to cope with astronomical prices. The WFP says that higher prices have already forced 6% of the population below the poverty line. In the longer term, economic vulnerability caused by the food deficit will rise as Yemen’s hydrocarbon reserves continue to diminish.

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