UN Warns Water Basins in Yemen Will be Depleted by 2030

A displaced Yemeni woman in Sanaa carries cans to fill water tanks (EPA)
A displaced Yemeni woman in Sanaa carries cans to fill water tanks (EPA)
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UN Warns Water Basins in Yemen Will be Depleted by 2030

A displaced Yemeni woman in Sanaa carries cans to fill water tanks (EPA)
A displaced Yemeni woman in Sanaa carries cans to fill water tanks (EPA)

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that the water basins will be depleted in Yemen by 2030.

It said that most conflicts revolve over water in Yemen, which remains the poorest in the world in terms of water resources.

In a report entitled “To leverage Water for Peace,” FAO said Yemen urgently needs to fully understand the water governance systems, how resources are extracted, used, shared and replenished.

“Our experience in Yemen has shown glaring gaps between policy and the ultimate use of the precious commodity. Another gap is limited funding to replicate best water management practices which have been piloted and proven effective,” the report said.

Also, Yemen is the poorest country in the world in terms of water resources.

The annual per capita share of water is a lowly 83 cubic meters compared to the absolute threshold of 500 cubic meters.

According to FAO, the agricultural sector accounts for about 90% of water use, most of it going to qat growing. It added that groundwater is being depleted at twice the rate it is being replenished and that groundwater resources are being used randomly.

“At the current extraction rate, by 2030, the water basins will be depleted,” the report warned, “This will be catastrophic for a country where 70% of the rural community practice agriculture.”

Also, the agri-food systems transformation agenda will be lost with the depletion of water resources in Yemen, it noted.

Climate change and rapid population growth have also put additional pressure on Yemen's limited water resources.

FAO said about 14.5 million people in Yemen are without access to safe drinking water and reliable sanitation facilities. “Women bear the brunt of this water situation which not only affect their crop and livestock production but entails more labor and time is used to travel to collect, store, and distribute water,” the report explained.

Community level water resources management

FAO said it is working with communities to rehabilitate water infrastructure and that close to 20,000 households have participated in its cash for work (CFW) programs activities since 2020.

It explained that CFW interventions serve a dual purpose. On one hand, they create income opportunities for participating households while on the other, they enable the restoration, rehabilitation, and establishment of communal assets such as water canals, weirs, and irrigation systems.

In addition, FAO supports Water User Associations (WUAs) to achieve optimal management of natural resources at the basin level.

WUAs consist of representatives from farmers, communities, and other stakeholders involved in water resource management and they use a participatory approach with women and the youth also participating.

Since 2020, 62 WUAs have been formed in Sanaa, Lahj, Hadramout, Wadi Hajar and Abyan, where WUAs play a vital role in shaping the composition and functions of regional and basin water management committees.

According to FAO, these WUAs facilitate decentralized water resources management and sustainable rural livelihoods at the sub-basin, and basin levels.

Aid Mechanisms

In addition, FAO said it is training community leaders in conflict resolution mechanism to help resolve any emerging tensions.

In this regard WUAs collect fees from users to fund maintenance and operation activities, they receive support and guidance from government agencies, especially the National Water Resources Authority (NWRA), as their operations are under the agency.

It added that WUA are an important instrument that has been used to promote peaceful coexistence and sharing of water resources.

FAO also acknowledged the crucial role women play in the practical day-to-day supply, management, and use of water. As such, the UN agency ensures that women actively participate in all phases of water management.

FAO said its focus is to give technical support in integrated water resources management (IWRM). “The goal is to develop sustainable water management strategies, policies, and investment plans that address water challenges in Yemen,” it said.

The agency said water harvesting technologies were improved, including rehabilitating and constructing new terraces, rehabilitation of on-farm water storage facilities for supplemental irrigation of existing terraces, on-farm water harvesting through underground cisterns and open wadi pits, wadi soil conservation and erosion control and rehabilitation of shallow wells and springs.



WFP: Major Food Aid 'Scale-up' Underway to Famine-hit Sudan

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
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WFP: Major Food Aid 'Scale-up' Underway to Famine-hit Sudan

FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa
FILED - 27 August 2024, Sudan, Omdurman: Young people walk along a street marked by destruction in Sudan. Photo: Mudathir Hameed/dpa

More than 700 trucks are on their way to famine-stricken areas of Sudan as part of a major scale-up after clearance came through from the Sudanese government, a World Food Program spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been locked in conflict since April 2023 that has caused acute hunger and disease across the country. Both sides are accused of impeding aid deliveries, the RSF by looting and the army by bureaucratic delays.
"In total, the trucks will carry about 17,500 tons of food assistance, enough to feed 1.5 million people for one month," WFP Sudan spokesperson Leni Kinzli told a press briefing in Geneva.
"We've received around 700 clearances from the government in Sudan, from the Humanitarian Aid Commission, to start to move and transport assistance to some of these hard-to-reach areas," she added, saying the start of the dry season was another factor enabling the scale-up.
The WFP fleet will be clearly labelled in the hope that access will be facilitated, Reuters quoted her as saying.
Some of the food is intended for 14 areas of the country that face famine or are at risk of famine, including Zamzam camp in the Darfur region.
The first food arrived there on Friday prompting cheers from crowds of people who had resorted to eating crushed peanut shells normally fed to animals, Kinzli said.

A second convoy for the camp is currently about 300 km away, she said.