Wadi Hajar is one of the most important agricultural valleys in the Arabian Peninsula, most notably in Yemen. It is one of the great valleys of Hadramout. It descends from the upper southwestern plateau of Hadramout governorate towards the Arabian Sea, with a basin area of 10,000 square kilometers. Water flows through it throughout the year, ending in Mayf’a on the coast of the Arabian Sea. Therefore, it is a fertile agricultural valley; most of its population (of 34,932 people) work in agriculture, where its plain lands on both sides of its course are cultivated with various types of grains, fruits, vegetables, and palm trees.

Furthermore, because the environmental requirements of the palm tree closely match the climatic conditions of Wadi Hajar, it has become the most important and productive of the valley’s products, the dates. It has even been called "the valley of the three million palm trees" due to the spread of palm trees and farms, which cover a wide green vegetation area. Rather, its dates, due to its high quality, were attributed to it, so it was called the "Hajari Date". In addition that, it has several types, the most widespread and cultivated of which is the "Socotri", which enjoys widespread fame and popularity in all of Yemen and is also exported abroad.

During the annual date harvest season in the valley, which lasts for about three months, starting in June and ending in August, the dates are sold at varying prices, and a large part of them goes to the dates factories that are keen to buy quantities of it;  to sell it later.  The amount of production of dates per season in the valley is about (47,062 metric tons), according to the data of the statistics and information department of the Yemeni Ministry of Agriculture.

What Happened?

On the morning of June 3, 2020, a strong tropical depression hit parts of southern Yemen and Socotra, in addition to a number of districts of Hadramout governorate, including Hajar district (west of the city of Mukalla, the capital of the governorate, about 157 kilometers away from it). On that day, the people of the district, which covers an area of ​​1,741 square kilometers, woke up shocked by the severity of what had befallen them, and their homes, farms, livestock, and properties had been damaged in an unprecedented way, as a result of severe thunderstorms and heavy rains that fell for more than a day and a half, followed by torrential torrents that left heavy losses.

However, the most prominent of these losses is the complete collapse of the system of the agricultural irrigation canals, known locally as al-Sawaqi and al-Atum, and their dams, which were established in the eighties of the last century, and through which farms and palm trees are irrigated, and whose number, according to official statistics dating back to the year 2004, is 3,000,000 palms, spread along the valley (200 kilometers).

The Size of the Catastrophe

Today, three years after this catastrophe, its damages are still evident, and perhaps the most severe of them is the death of 15,000 palm trees, according to statistics obtained by "Khuyut" from Mohammed Banoubi, director of the office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation in the district. Indicating that the reason is due to "the complete destruction of the irrigation water course and canals system for palm farms as a result of this strong and sudden depression that struck the district." Until the scene in the valley has become a vast barren space with empty palm trunks thrown on the ground, some of which stand upright but without a soul, and others have lost their heads as if they were in the execution guillotine, and the palm fronds that have lost their green color and tend to turn yellow.

Dr. Khaled Ba Wahedi, Director of the Center for Environmental Studies and Water Resources at Hadramout University, says in an interview with "Khuyut" that "the death of this huge number of palm trees is a great loss, especially since it can play an important role in the environmental balance due to its great growth feature. Further, it is also one of the largest trees in size, and therefore its absorption of large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is one of its most important advantages, which gives it the advantage of contributing to solving the problem of global warming and climate change, which has become a ghost haunting the entire world.”

As for the farmer, Hussein Al-Shazly (35 years old), he talks to "Khuyut" about this suffering, saying: "Today the canals and streams need to be reclaimed again after the torrents swept away part of them and buried another part, because of which we also lost a lot of palm trees, mangoes, and types of grains. Rather, even our agricultural lands have been swept away and are in dire need of reclamation to return to their former state."

Unsupported Initiatives

Al-Shazly stresses that the initiatives that are taken from time to time by the farmers themselves, in their attempts to reclaim their irrigation canals; have become very difficult, because the extent of the damage has become great and has exceeded their human capabilities as farmers, working with their hands and primitive agricultural tools. Thus, an urgent and deliberate intervention is required involving the local authorities and local and international organizations. However, if this intervention is not carried out quickly, the depletion of palm trees will continue day after day, and thousands of other palm trees will die.

Likewise, Omar Hadi, a 48-year-old farmer who has spent 23 years growing palm trees, explains to "Khuyut" what happened, saying: "Many of my palm trees have died. During the last three years, the irrigation water has completely cut off from our farms. Although it is known that the palm tree, or any other tree, needs sufficient water to grow and survive, nevertheless, we tried to save what we could, but it was in vain, as it was very difficult. It needed great capabilities that we do not have as farmers."

In addition, Omar points with a sigh as he looks at his own scorched field in front of him, saying, "Look! This field has turned into a barren desert. It was once a lush oasis, where I planted palm trees and different types of grains, vegetables, and fruits." "For God's sake, who bears responsibility for this injustice and unfairness?", he concluded.

Failed Interventions

Palm tree cultivation in the valley depends on groundwater, in addition to the torrents flowing from the valleys when the rains fall through the multiple irrigation canals that were established for this purpose. However, they were all destroyed by the depression, which prompted a number of local and international organizations to intensify their interventions in this aspect, in the hope that they would contribute to controlling this catastrophe. Therefore, some of them carried out repairs on the waterways and canals, and others rehabilitated a number of dams.

Nevertheless, the farmers and the people assert that all of these interventions "were a failure". They attribute the reason for this to not consulting those with expertise in this field and not involving them in the development and drawing of the methods and types of interventions. In addition to the failure to implement these interventions according to correct field engineering studies to solve the problem from its roots. Therefore, most of these interventions were characterized as "instant patchworks", which quickly collapsed on their first trial and test, by the passage of the smallest torrents through them, were destroyed again as if they had never been before.

On the other hand, the local authorities in the district also agree with the people and farmers in this matter that the actual feasibility of the interventions of many local and international organizations has not been achieved. At the same time, these intervening organizations bear the cause of this failure, justifying it by not involving them in the implementation, coordination, and supervision of these projects through their competent executive offices.

Forced Migration

Walid bin Daghar, the head of the Agricultural Committee in Al-Hussayen and its environs, also confirmed to "Khuyut" that the interventions that took place in the canals of the Al-Hussayen area were simple. Moreover, as soon as the organizations finished their interventions in them, the torrents flowed and swept them away, returning them to the same first square of suffering after the collapse of their canals again. This was negatively reflected in the death of more palm trees and the cessation of agriculture due to water outages.

For his part, Tariq Mohsen (59 years old) also talks to "Khuyut", about these interventions, saying: "When the first intervention was carried out to repair and reclaim these watercourses and canals, about a year and a half after the catastrophe, we were optimistic, but unfortunately the torrents came and swept away all the fragile reclamations that took place. As a result, we lost a whole year's harvest, and all our efforts went unheeded. This, in turn, was reflected in raising our livestock, which could not find anything to eat from cultivating these lands, because of which, we lost a lot. Consequently, this led many farmers to quit working in agriculture and migrate to the city, looking for other jobs in order to earn a living".

Likewise, Mater Abdullah (33 years old) confirms to "Khuyut" the existence of this bitter forced migration, who is from the valley, and how he left agriculture and went to work in the city of Mukalla, in the construction and painting works, saying: “I am the head of a family; I had to think of a way through which I can secure a living for my wife and children. Working in the palm trees and cultivating them is a thing of the past, because it all ended in this catastrophe that happened."

Mater concludes his speech with great sorrow, by saying: "My memory keeps the names of many of the people of the valley, whom I know very well, who stopped working in the valley and migrated to other areas after their palm trees died. They became wage labourers! where they started working as farmers and getting paid in return for that, on palm farmlands owned by other people in the areas of Wadi Hadramout, such as Daw’an, Hoora, and Wadi Al-Ain.

The government’s neglect and forgetfulness of the district and its people, is not a spur of the moment, but rather a cumulative process that they have experienced for years since 2007, when the tropical cyclone "Gonu" hit the district, followed by the tropical cyclone "Chapala" in 2015, and passing through tropical cyclone "Luban" in the year 2018, which left significant damages at all levels, especially to agriculture and farmers.

A Forgotten Valley

Agriculture, which Saleh Ali (39 years old) inherited from his parents and grandparents, was the only source of livelihood for him and his family and still is so today. Saleh works most of the day on his land, cultivating various types of vegetables and fruits, which he sells on a daily basis, and he and his family of four live on the proceeds.

Saleh talks to "Khuyut" about an overwhelming desire that he possessed in the past “to plant several varieties of palm trees”; however, he refrained because of the "miserable" situation of the district, as he describes it, summarizing this suffering with a pain that seemed clear on him, saying: "The government has completely forgotten Wadi Hajar, its farmers, and our date palms. Unfortunately, this catastrophe passed and not even an official visited us; no one asked about us even a mere question, and they certainly will not do that because we are the forgotten, in a forgotten district."

Similarly, Mohammed Banoubi, director of the Agriculture and Irrigation Office in the district, outlined to "Khuyut", the most prominent interventions carried out by the local authority to mitigate the effects of this catastrophe on farmers, represented in the reclamation of some water barriers and dams as well as the earthen water canals and the provision of equipment for work. However, the farmers say that these interventions were insignificant, timid, and completely insufficient and do not measure up to the size and capabilities of the district’s local authority, which was watching, day and night, a national wealth dying in thousands, in front of it without moving a finger in response.

The mouthpiece of all the people, including the farmers, affirms that the government’s neglect and forgetfulness of the district and its people, is not a spur of the moment, but rather a cumulative process that they have experienced for years since 2007, when the tropical cyclone "Gonu" hit the district, followed by the tropical cyclone "Chapala" in 2015, and passing through tropical cyclone "Luban" in the year 2018, which left significant damages at all levels, especially to agriculture and farmers, “but no one paid any attention to them or to their double suffering,” as they said.