In light of the crisis that reverberated due to the Russian-Ukrainian war early last year, the issue of wheat cultivation and production in Yemen has attracted increasing attention, between the reality related to the country’s dependence on imports for about 70% of food consumption and the challenges of agriculture, and between the efforts that are being talked about here or there, including the determination of the official authorities in some governorates, to expand the areas of wheat cultivation, and the talk about the possibility of achieving “self-sufficiency” or not.
The most recent specialized report issued by ACAPS reveals that Yemen depends on imports by two-thirds in terms of volume, and four-fifths (80%) in terms of vital value. Although the average monthly imports reached 468,000 metric tons per month between January 2018 and the same month of 2023, high population growth threatens food security over time.
Yemen and wheat cultivation
Wheat is grown in 18 Yemeni governorates, with varied sizes of cultivated areas which are measured in hectares. The data of the annual reports of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, which "Khuyut" had reviewed, shows that the Dhammar governorate is the first among the Yemeni governorates in terms of the size of the land cultivated with wheat, as it reached in 2009 more than 25 thousand and 300 hectares, or 22 percent of the total 117 thousand and 525 hectares. Sana’a governorate ranked second with a rate of 21%, but the total cultivated area declined until it reached more than 57,400 hectares in 2019, and the variation rate between 2009 and 2019 was more than 100 percent.
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/13112850
Wheat production between reality and ambition
The total production of the Yemeni governorates that grow wheat during the period (2010-2019) amounted to one million 904 thousand and 177 tons, where Al-Jawf governorate ranked first in production rate of 26 percent, and Sana’a governorate came in the second place with a rate of 17 percent. Yet, the area cultivated with wheat decreased and the production rate declined during the same period, as the highest production was in 2010, when it amounted to 265,432 tons, while 2018 had the lowest production of 92,210 tons only.
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/13113091
Despite this, the agricultural concerned authorities in the areas of the Sana'a regime under the authority of the "Houthis" have intensified the efforts in the last two years, and have tended to expand the wheat agricultural areas in Al-Jawf Governorate, in which the governor's advisor, Ali bin Thiba, announced that the local production of wheat in the governorate had increased by 70%.
In order to reach the highest wheat production, research recommendations and technical packages accompanying the improved varieties must be adhered to, in addition to the commitment to the horizontal expansion of wheat cultivation, by increasing the agricultural area of the crop.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation in Sana'a, Radhwan Al-Rubai, said in several media statements that there is a tendency to expand "wheat cultivation in the central and northern highlands and in the eastern regions," as part of a trend "towards achieving self-sufficiency." "We have tried many methods in growing wheat in the winter season in Tihama plains, and there are promising results, regardless of the low production rate which is still low," Said the deputy minister.
Cultivated area against production
Yemenis grow seven agricultural varieties: (fodder, Qat, cash crops, legumes, fruits, and grains), and among five types of grains: (corn, maize, millet, wheat, and barley), wheat ranks second in terms of production. However, it comes in third place in terms of the cultivated area, as local corn and maize rank first in terms of area at a rate of 59 percent, followed by millet at 18 percent, and wheat third at a rate of 11 percent.
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/13113091/
National production and Wheat imports
Cereals represent the second commodity that Yemen imports in terms of value, at a rate of 13 percent, after mineral fuel, which ranked first in terms of the value of the commodities that Yemen imported during the period (2016-2021). Wheat is imported from more than twenty countries, the highest of which is Russia, where the amount of wheat that Yemen imported from Russia during the period (2009-2019) amounted to nearly ten million tons, with a rate of more than a quarter: 28 percent, while Australian wheat came second with a rate of 26 percent, and the United States of America at the third place with 17 percent.
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/13113404/
Australia ranked first in terms of the value of imported wheat, with 28 percent of the total value of 8 billion 414 million and 258 dollars, Russia ranked second with 26 percent, and the United States of America third with 18 percent, although the variance in value from quantity is attributed by specialists to the difference in the quality of wheat and its nutritional value and its resistance to pests.
In view of the volume of imported quantities and the amounts of the domestic product, the total of the latter does not even constitute 20%, and it is not consumed in the local market, as part goes to export. In 2020, Yemen exported $110,000 worth of wheat and the main destinations for Yemen's wheat exports were: Kuwait (40.5 thousand dollars), the United Arab Emirates (33.2 thousand dollars), Qatar (21.7 thousand dollars), and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (14.2 thousand dollars).
High Costs
The data of the World Food Program's economic explorer, which tracks commodity prices, that Khuyut analyzed for the period (2016-2021) for all governorates, reveals a rapid and uneven increase in the price of one kilo of wheat. Shabwa governorate ranked first among the southern governorates in the rate of price variation between the years 2016 and 2021, which amounted to 87%, while Ammran governorate ranked first among the northern governorates, with a variation rate of 58%.
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/13160318/
Local wheat is more expensive
One of the most significant challenges associated with local wheat production is its high cost, as the local wheat price is 34 percent higher than imported wheat. According to the ACAPS report issued in June 2023, it indicated that the increase in prices reflects the increase in cultivation costs, which leads to a decline in the proportion of local agriculture of wheat, as a result of the increase in the prices of locally produced wheat.
In an exclusive interview with Khuyut, Dr. Ahmed Abdul Habib, from the Agricultural Research Department in Dhammar, told that wheat cultivation in Yemen for the period (2010-2020) declined by about 60% in area, and 52% in production. This is due to "the overlapping of several factors in production, foremost of which is the high cost of oil derivatives, the war and the blockade, and the opening of the country to the entry of food assistance through aid organizations and the competition of the foreign product of wheat had a significant impact on the decline of wheat cultivation.
On the other hand, according to Habib: "We find that the yield of a hectare of wheat increased by 19% for the same period, and this shows the role of agricultural research, which launched nearly 20 varieties of improved wheat and issued many technology packages accompanying the varieties."
Dr. Abdel Habib added that: "In order to reach the highest production of wheat, research recommendations and technical packages accompanying the improved varieties must be adhered to, in addition to following the method of horizontal expansion of the cultivation of the wheat crop by increasing the agricultural area of the crop." Among these technical packages is following an integrated management of crop cultivation.
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/13113201/
The appropriate wheat cultivation conditions
According to Abdel Habib, wheat is one of the crops whose cultivation is suitable for a moderate climate, temperature, and medium or moderate humidity, as its cultivation does not succeed in hot or very humid weather. It can germinate at a low temperature of at least four degrees Celsius, and wheat seedlings can withstand very low temperatures until frost. As for the soil, most types of lands are suitable for growing wheat, and the most suitable types of lands are fertile, medium-textured and well-drained lands."
Moreover, he explained that wheat in Yemen is grown in the mountainous highlands areas, which includes the governorates of; Taiz, Ibb and Al-Dhalea, especially in the high-altitude areas from the governorates of Ibb and Al-Dhalea in the south to Sa'ada in the north, passing through the governorates of Dhammar, Sana’a, Ammran, Al-Mahweet and Hajah.
The area cultivated with wheat in the highland region is estimated at an average of 32.5 thousand hectares, followed by the eastern plateau region, which starts from Marib governorate and extends through Al-Jawf, Hadramout and Shabwa governorates. The area cultivated with wheat in the Eastern Plateau region is estimated at an average of 22.7 thousand hectares, and it is rarely cultivated in the coastal region or the coastal plain due to the high temperature in the coastal areas.
The areas that receive an annual rainfall of (300-700) mm are considered suitable lands for wheat cultivation, as is the case in Ibb Governorate. The crop can also be grown in areas with less rain than that, at about (200-250) mm, but its productivity is very low, and it needs supplemental irrigation, as is the case in Qa’a Jahran and the northern highlands region, in which the amount of rain varies from year to year.
In addition, there are differences between wheat varieties in their suitability for environmental conditions. Thus, more rain than the normal rate shall negatively affects wheat growth and leads to the spread of fungal diseases.
And some areas where irrigation water is available from wells, groves, or any other source of irrigation, can grow the crop in the winter, and improved varieties can be used for that, as they give higher productivity in the summer than in the winter, like the case in the areas of highlands and lowlands, which are grown in the overflow season.
Good signs and challenges
In his interview with "Khuyut", the economic researcher, Rashid Al-Haddad, explained that there is a tendency by the Sana'a authority to increase the rates of agricultural production, especially cereals, whose production has declined during the past years as a result of the ramifications of the war and the blockade, and that "the plans adopted by Sana'a to achieve self-sufficiency in Cereals, especially wheat, sorghum and millet, began two years ago by cultivating areas estimated at 40 thousand hectares annually.
On the other hand, Al-Haddad said that although there are good indicators of wheat cultivation in the valleys of Al-Jawf, the cost of production is still high due to the lack of modern agricultural inputs. In addition, this trend is still facing a key challenge represented by the lack of sufficient seeds for cultivation.
He added that the agricultural indicators for this approach are good, and that "achieving self-sufficiency in food requires a long-term roadmap." "The establishment of peace will be an incentive for the private sector to invest in this aspect and reduce the cost of production." Haddad concluded his speech to Khuyut.
