Beekeeping in Yemen is facing significant challenges that have led to a decline in honey production and the poor quality offered in the market.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned of climate change's impact on the value and quality of Yemeni honey and other practices that kill bees.
The UN organization referred to the Sidr honey, one of the most valuable honey varieties in the world.
However, bees are endangered amid changes in land use and landscape structure, intensive agricultural practices, monocultures, and the use of pesticides.
Beekeepers must pay Houthi arbitrary fees claimed as a "zakat" collection system.
The organization stressed the importance of supporting beekeepers in Yemen to enhance adaptation to climate change, improve agricultural production systems, and help beekeepers save bees.
Bees and other pollinators are unsung workhorses, as nearly 75 percent of the world's crops that produce fruits and seeds for human consumption depend on them for sustained production, yield, and quality.
It expressed concerns about the global threats to bees and the disruption to food production systems, noting the importance of honey's social and economic role in Yemen.
The FAO Representative in Yemen, Hussein Gadain, said they were encouraging adopting environment-friendly agricultural production practices that promote the restoration of agrifood systems and protect bees and other pollinators in the country.
Honey production has declined a lot during the past years, giving way to vast quantities of imported honey, which is being promoted as Yemeni honey.
A trade source in the sector controlled by the Houthi militia in Sanaa stated that the honey offered in the markets is imported and not subject to any control and that the militia does not oblige merchants to disclose the true origin or set reasonable prices.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis are concerned with collecting levies and royalties they obtain from merchants and suppliers.
The source claimed the group compensates by collecting royalties from local beekeepers, adding that the militias welcome other honey sources as an alternative.
The decline in the Yemeni honey trade began gradually since the coup after the Houthis seized several shops and companies specialized in producing and marketing Yemeni honey.
According to businessman Nazir Qadri, the group closed export outlets with neighboring countries because of the war.
Qadri explained that bee farms and shop owners were subjected to extortion, forced to pay high royalties, and obliged to gift coup leaders.
Coup leaders presented Yemeni honey as a bribe to UN officials in international organizations and diplomats, and the gifts were taken from beekeepers or merchants directly for free or at low prices, causing significant losses.
Last June, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced that armed conflict and climate change threaten honey production in Yemen, long known for producing some of the best in the world.
The Committee said that Yemen has long been renowned for producing some of the best honey in the world, but enormous losses have been inflicted on the industry since the outbreak of the conflict.
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.
It indicated that Yemen, like many conflict-affected countries, is disproportionately affected by climate change. The temperature rises in recent years, combined with severe alterations caused to the environment, are disturbing the bees' ecosystem, which is impacting the pollination process.
ICRC officials confirmed that active frontlines prevent beekeepers from moving around the country to graze their bees.
In addition, the presence of landmines and unexploded ordinance threatens the beekeepers, dozens of whom have reportedly been killed when trying to cross the frontlines while grazing their bees or trying to sell their products.
