Yemen’s Ancient Honey Production a Victim of War, Climate Change

Experts consider Yemeni honey one of the best in the world but "enormous losses" have been inflicted on production since war broke out in 2014, the International Committee of the Red Cross says AHMAD AL-BASHA AFP
Experts consider Yemeni honey one of the best in the world but "enormous losses" have been inflicted on production since war broke out in 2014, the International Committee of the Red Cross says AHMAD AL-BASHA AFP
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Yemen’s Ancient Honey Production a Victim of War, Climate Change

Experts consider Yemeni honey one of the best in the world but "enormous losses" have been inflicted on production since war broke out in 2014, the International Committee of the Red Cross says AHMAD AL-BASHA AFP
Experts consider Yemeni honey one of the best in the world but "enormous losses" have been inflicted on production since war broke out in 2014, the International Committee of the Red Cross says AHMAD AL-BASHA AFP

For Yemeni beekeeper Mohammed Saif, honey production used to be a lucrative business but years of war and climate change have taken the buzz out of the family hives.

The business, handed down from father to son, "is slowly disappearing", Saif told AFP. "The bees are being hit by strange phenomenons. Is it due to climate change or the effects of war? We really don't know."

Yemen, one of the world's most impoverished countries, has been gripped by a deadly conflict since 2014.

In the southwestern region of Taiz, Saif recently took stock of his hives in a rugged valley surrounded by mountains.

Before the war, Saif said, the family managed 300 hives, now only 80 are left.

Experts consider Yemeni honey some of the best in the world, including the prized Royal Sidr known for its therapeutic properties.

The United Nations says honey plays a "vital role" in Yemen's economy, with 100,000 households dependent on it for their livelihoods.

- Bee ecosystems battered -

But "enormous losses have been inflicted on the industry since the outbreak of the conflict", the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a report in June.

"Armed conflict and climate change are threatening the continuity of a 3,000-year-old practice," the ICRC said.

"Successive waves of displacement to flee violence, the impact of weapon contamination on production areas, and the growing impact of climate change are pushing thousands of beekeepers into precarity, significantly reducing production."

Saif knows it all too well.

"Last year in our village a missile struck a beekeeper's hives. He lost everything," he said.

"The war has had a very bad impact on us. The fighters have targeted many zones where bees are found," he added.

The ICRC's Bashir Omar said the conflict had limited the ability of beekeepers to freely roam the land whenever flowers were in bloom to collect the honey.

Landmines and active front lines are among the challenges they face.

"To make matters worse, Yemen, like many conflict-affected countries, is disproportionately affected by climate change," the ICRC report noted.

"Temperature rises in recent years, combined with severe alterations caused to the environment, are disturbing the bees' ecosystem which is impacting the pollination process," it said.

"With water tables falling and increased desertification, areas previously engaged in agricultural activities and beekeeping no longer sustain these livelihoods."

The ICRC is providing financial support and training this year to beekeepers, after a similar initiative in 2021 that helped nearly 4,000 of them.

Nabil al-Hakim, who sells Yemen's celebrated yellow nectar in Taiz shops, also recalled the golden days before the conflict ravaged his country.

"Before the war we could make a good living by selling honey... but honey has become rare and customers can no longer afford it," he said.

"Before, I used to sell up to 25 five-liter jars a month. Now I can't even sell one."



Japan Births in 2024 Fell Below 700,000 for First Time 

People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
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Japan Births in 2024 Fell Below 700,000 for First Time 

People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)

The number of births in Japan last year fell below 700,000 for the first time on record, government data showed Wednesday.

The fast-ageing nation welcomed 686,061 newborns in 2024 -- 41,227 fewer than in 2023, the data showed. It was the lowest figure since records began in 1899.

Japan has the world's second-oldest population after tiny Monaco, according to the World Bank.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called the situation a "quiet emergency", pledging family-friendly measures like more flexible working hours to try and reverse the trend.

Wednesday's health ministry data showed that Japan's total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman is expected to have -- also fell to a record low of 1.15.

The ministry said Japan saw 1.6 million deaths in 2024, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier.

Ishiba has called for the revitalization of rural regions, where shrinking elderly villages are becoming increasingly isolated.

In more than 20,000 communities in Japan, the majority of residents are aged 65 and above, according to the internal affairs ministry.

The country of 123 million people is also facing increasingly severe worker shortages as its population ages, not helped by relatively strict immigration rules.

In neighboring South Korea, the fertility rate in 2024 was even lower than Japan's, at 0.75 -- remaining one of the world's lowest but marking a small rise from the previous year on the back of a rise in marriages.