Two years ago, the peanut cultivation experiment (popularly known as Lawz) was transmitted from Al-Selw district to the Jarnat area in Bani Youssef. The new product was planted in the backyard of Khadija’s school in order to find out the results of the experiment and then take advantage of its yield—if the experiment succeeded—in supporting the school activities. Within four months, the school produced about 14 qadah (is an Islamic measure of weight and units of volume, equal to approximately 32kg). Despite some difficulties that accompanied the process of growing it, the experiment was worthwhile, as it was repeated for the second year in a row.
Seed Care
Peanut cultivation begins with the selection of good seeds from the previous year's crop. Subsequently, the land is plowed, and the seeds are placed in the "plowed soil lines" just as the wheat seeds are placed. Then they are watered until they germinate. After a while, their roots are buried with soil until the peanuts bear fruit. After three months, the crop is harvested by taking out the roots by digging out or by tilling, as in large farms, after which it is dried on the roofs of houses and then distributed to the markets.
Poor Marketing
In the Bardad area near Jarnat, Hajj Mohammed Abdullah has been growing peanuts next to his house for two years because the remote agricultural fields need to be guarded during the production period. But for the last few months, he has been forced to guard the crop from theft and animals so as not to ruin the crop and get the fruit out of this stage, which requires great effort and vigilance.
Hajj Abdullah speaks to "Khuyut" by saying, “We need protection nets to place on the outskirts of the farm so that the animals cannot reach the crop; because the crop can easily be ruined by anything, so all our efforts are in vain.”
Similarly, the farmer Hazz’a Shamsan also owns about six agricultural fields, which he invests in growing the crop, producing about 15 Qadah annually. He sells what is harvested from his fields, in addition to what he buys from citizens in his shop in the village, and distributes the overflowing crop to the merchants in Al-Ain market, the center of Al-Mawasit district in Taiz.
For his part, Rabie Al-Doum, a human rights activist and farmer, tells “Khuyut”: "The cultivation of peanut in Bardad has been going on for years, and there are large areas in which it is cultivated. The farmers exploit the areas next to their homes to cultivate, and there are those who rent agricultural fields to grow the crop. Bardad produces between 300 and 400 qadahs per year.”
Shamsan adds: “This area is suitable for growing peanuts because its soil is fertile and soft and suitable for growing such crops, and if farmers are supported, Bardad will turn into a prolific productive area in a short time, but it needs an agricultural association that guides the farmers and markets the crops at a reasonable price in order to encourage them."
Transmission of Experience
Seven years ago, peanuts began to be cultivated in Bani Hammad when the farmers bought good seeds from the Al-Selw district, whose crop's cultivation extends over a wide region of its areas (Al-Sharaf, Al-Qabila, Al-Du’aa, Al-Akaisha, Al-Ash’oub, and others), and whose farmers began planting it in the villages of Al-Sharaf and Nama. The crop needs land with easy soil in order to grow. Bani Hammad produces about 300 qadahs of peanuts annually. Although the seeds are taken from Al-Selw district, the crop's taste is different due to the difference in the soil. The citizens of Bani Hammad grow corn along with peanuts, and the agricultural fields are rotated between them every two years in order to improve the quality of the crop. While the Al-Khadhra area in the Sam’i district, near Al-Selw district, has been producing peanuts for seven years, at about 200 qadahs a year.
Mohammed Hameed, a peanut trader and farmer in Bani Hammad, grows about 25 qadahs annually. The farmers come to him after the harvest to sell the crop to him. It is estimated that he buys about 250 qadahs from them. Hameed tells “Khuyut”: “The local peanut has a distinctive taste, which makes citizens always agree to buy and grow it, but this in turn requires the provision of good seeds and water tanks on farms in order to water the crops, especially during drought days.”
Consequences of War
The peanut crop was affected by the war, as the productive agricultural fields were damaged as a result of the conflict. Meanwhile, mines constituted a greater obstacle to the residents’ return to their farms. The price of peanuts is rising—according to Qaid Al-Selwi, one of the residents of Al-Selwi—bringing the price of 1 qaddah to about 25,000, while the price of Al-Hammadi's is 20,000 riyals.
“Yemen's peanut production is estimated at about 1,515 tons annually. The most famous areas of its cultivation are Abyan, Lahj, and Al-Mahwit. It is grown in the governorates of Abyan, Lahj, and Al-Mahwit in an agricultural area of 2.141 hectares. Abyan produces about 1.308 tons in an area of 1.879 hectares, while Lahj produces about 186 tons in an area of 208 hectares, and likewise, Al-Mahwit produces about 57 tons in an area of 54 hectares, according to the Agricultural Statistics Book for the year 2019, while there are no statistics for Taiz’s peanut production.”
Profitable Business
Outside Taiz, peanuts began to be cultivated in the Ba Saif region of Abyan in large areas. The flat land helped increase its cultivation area. The land there is plowed by tillage, and then the peanuts are planted in separate squares. Later, after five months, the crop is harvested, and the merchants buy it from farmers at low prices and sell it to consumers at high prices.
Likewise, Abdulbasit Al-Shawafi, a nuts trader, is thinking of renting a truck for transportation and trading peanuts during this season in Taiz City, especially since he has experience trading peanuts annually for an amount exceeding five million riyals. However, now he will double the amount to achieve a profitable goal, given that the peanut trade is profitable despite the rise in its prices. "Previously, the price of farasela (a traditional measure in Yemen equivalent to a qadah and a quarter) was about 2,400 riyals, but now its price has become 22,000 riyals," according to his statement to "Khuyut.”
On the other hand, Yemen's peanut production is estimated at about 1,515 tons during the year. The most famous areas of its cultivation are Abyan, Lahj, and Al-Mahwit. It is grown in the governorates of Abyan, Lahj, and Al-Mahwit in an agricultural area of 2.141 hectares. Abyan produces about 1.308 tons in an area of 1.879 hectares, while Lahj produces about 186 tons in an area of 208 hectares, and likewise, Al-Mahwit produces about 57 tons in an area of 54 hectares, according to the Agricultural Statistics Book for the year 2019, while there are no statistics for Taiz’s peanut production. The peanut cultivation in Taiz is distributed in the areas of Al-Selw, Bani Hammad, Qadas, Bani Youssef, and other areas. The crop is considered a competitor to the Qat tree, as it is produced in large quantities and with a large financial return, in addition to requiring little water, unlike the Qat tree.
Obstacles and Challenges
There are only a few farmers who depend on peanuts as their main source of income because they are forced to grow corn along with it in order to get fodder for their animals, especially after the price of fodder rose from 300 to 1,000 riyals (per piece of cornstalk) during the last year, which makes farmers retreat from growing it in all their agricultural fields.
It is worth mentioning that one of the challenges of peanut production in Yemen is importing it from China despite the difference in taste and quality, which requires the concerned authorities to consider the issue of importing to encourage local agriculture.
In this regard, the economic journalist, Najeeb Al-Adoufi, lists a number of challenges facing agriculture in general in Yemen, which he summarizes in an interview with "Khuyut" as follows: “Opening the market to similar imported products, given the high cost of producing them locally, and therefore, when they are offered to the market in front of the imported products, we find that the imported ones are offered at a lower price, and amid the weak purchasing power, the consumer tends to buy the imported goods and products. Consequently, here, the farmers incur huge losses, which eventually force them to stop their agricultural activities; and here, the country loses many job opportunities.”
Al-Adoufi adds: “In the early 1990s, a decision was issued banning the import of vegetables, which achieved self-sufficiency. However, for example, there are still exceptions, especially with regard to almonds and raisins, which are produced locally, but they face fierce confrontation when the market is flooded with the imported ones. This puts the local product in front of unequal competition in terms of price and cost of production; although the quality of the local product is higher, the consumer is looking for his needs according to his purchasing power.”
