Agricultural & fisheries sector lose 33% of their productive capacity and their losses exceed $ 3 billion
English - Sunday 07 July 2019 الساعة 05:05 pm
Aden – NewsYemen.net
The agriculture and fish sector output was estimated in declining by 32.8% in 2018 compared to 2014, influenced by other factors such as higher fuel prices, costs of agricultural production inputs; and limited access to fishing areas.
A recent economic study, "Food Insecurity in Yemen", obtained by NewsYemen", said that the high prices of fuel needed to pump irrigation water had a strong impact on agricultural activity and its outputs and ways of livelihoods of the rural population, which led to the contribution of exacerbating food insecurity and malnutrition.
The overall survey of the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, funded by UNICEF, indicated that the overall level of food security has significantly deteriorated due to the collapse of oil and gas exports and other agricultural and fishery exports, with a total decline of about 80% in 2018 compared with 2014.
The decline in productivity of the agricultural and fisheries sectors has caused a decline in the flow of foreign exchange into the country, the weakening of the national currency against the dollar and the rise in the preferential exchange rate to finance imports of basic food commodities by more than double compared to the pre-crisis.
According to World Bank data, obtained by NewsYemen, that monitors Yemen's economic situation, the total conflict-related damage was estimated in the field of agriculture, fisheries and livestock at $ 3 billion due to shortages of electricity, water, production inputs and access to markets as well as breakdown of logistics chains.
The loss of employment was estimated to be about 50 percent in the mentioned sectors. About 70 percent of Yemenis live in rural areas, and more than 50 percent of the labor force relies on agriculture and related activities to earn their living, affecting the livelihoods of farmers and fishers.
The Yemeni people spend almost half of their budgets on food, with 96% of Yemenis being net food consumers, and loss of income indirectly affect their purchasing power for food and non-food items.
Climate change is one of the main factors that have greatly affected the local production of food and the food security situation in Yemen, including the damage caused by the cyclones, hurricanes and floods that hit Yemen areas during the period 2010-2018.
