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Geography yemen presentation
- 1. Yemen Environmental Strategy By: Eugene Ling 12A
- 19. Thank You for Listening
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Yemen is located in the middle east and it is found between Oman and Saudi Arabia. However, unlike its neighboring countries in the Arabian peninsula, it is extremely poor. It is actually one of the poorest countries in the middle east. Its average GDP/capita is $2,500, where as Oman’s GDP/capita is $20,300. Furthermore, it is one of the driest countries on earth, it’s per capita water share is 125 cubic meters, whereas the global world average is 7,500 cubic meters.
- The biggest problem that Yemen faces today is water scarcity. Many areas in Yemen suffer from an extremely severe crisis in terms of volume and quality of water. In Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, four times as much water is taken out of the basin than what falls into each year. The water basin Taiz, one of Yemen’s largest cities, has already collasped. As 19 out of the country’s 21 aquifiers aren’t being replenished, much of the return flow is polluted. Untreated wastewater contaminates groundwater thus reducing the quantity of fresh groundwater available. Furthmore, Yemen’s water table is dropping at at about two meters per year. Its per capita water share is at 125 cubic meters, whereas the poverty line is 1,000 cubic meters. Most experts believe that Sana’a will run out of economically viable water supplies by 2017. According to the World Bank, this is the same year that it will cease to earn money from oil, which currently accounts for ¾ of the country’s revenues. Within this decade, it could be the first capital in modern history to run out water. Aside from the obvious impacts that water scarcity has on people’s health, it also retards development. According to the UN, it is already the poorest and most underdeveloped country in the Arabian Penisula. As of 2005, the Yemen Parliamentary report stated that 75% of Yemen’s population is threatened by waterborn diseases due to unclean drinking water. Water scarcity will only exasperate the problem at hand. As the country shifts its resources towards finding more reliable water sources, it will also divert attention away from the growing threat of Al-Qaeda and northern Shiite rebels. Furthmore, water riots are spralling all over the country. In August 24 th , 2009 a riot in the southern city of Aden left one person dead and 3 critically wounded.
- QAT Over 90% of Yemen’s water is already targeted towards agriculture. Almost 2/3 of that water is being spent on a highly addictive narcotic drug called qat. This is a rare type of rtee requires huge quantities of water causing great strain on Yemen’s resources, It is estimated that qat trees annually consume about 800 million cubic meters of water From the 1970s, Yemenis turned swiftly from rain-fed farming to irrigation using water pumped from new tube wells. However, they found that this sort of irrgation was unsustainable because the groundwater wasn’t being replensiehd. Furthermore, the irrigation methods for Qat is extremely ineffecient, as an estimated 40% of the irrigation water is wasted.
- OVERPOPULATION Another cause of water scarcity is Sana’a booming population. It is one of the world’s fastest growing cities. According to the World Bank, it has a population growth of 8% every year. Yemen’s population is experiencing a growth of 3.46% and it’s population of 23 million people is prejected to double in the next 20 years. This enormous population will put a giant strain on Yemen’s water resources.
- Desalinating seawater on the coast and pumping it 2,000 meters uphill to the capital The costs for the pipeline and solar power plant to pump 1 billiom cubic meters of water per year is about $6 billion. This amount is equivalent to 2% of Yemneni oil reserves. Construction of the pipe lines can be controlled. If the government starts now, they may be able to construct it in time. However, there is a catch here. The desalination process has to be powered by solar energy. BUT: You need a collector area of about 40 km2. The government has considered moving the capital BUT: Building new settlements for around 2 million people will cost over $35 million. The relocation of 2 million people can lead to frictions and surprises that can induce uncontrollable developments including civil war. This doesn’t really do anything, simply by moving the capital elsewhere doesn’t change the fact that Sana’a doesn't have water. Furthermore, it is way too costly and inefficient. A third solution would be to transfer water over the mountains from another basin. BUT: Too expensive, takes too long, unrealistic. This might spark conflict with nearby provinces that are also parched. The best solution, everyone agrees, is to reduce qat growing, which sucks up the largest share of water use. BUT: However, it presents us with huge social and economic issues. In a country where half the population earn less than $2 a day it provides many jobs. Studies completed in 2001 estimated that the income from cultivating qat was about YR2.5 million per hectare, while it was only YR0.57 million per hectare for fruits. Furthermore, the banning of qat is also impossible because it is so entrenched in Yemeni culture and society. An estimated of 2/3 of the population chews qat. “It's like trying to ban beer in Germany or wine in France," In addition, the plantations are often in the hands of 'qat mafia,' which are extremely powerful. However, the government should provide materials to those farmers who grow fruits and vegetables at subsidized costs and also place a tax on qat. This tax would not only deter farmers from planting this crop, but more importantly, it would generate the necessary funds that could be used to off-set the losses that would be initially incurred when switching from qat farming to that of fruits, vegetables and grains.
- To achieve this target, an additional 1.5 billion people will require access to some form of improved water supply by 2015, that is an additional 100 million people each year (or 274,000/day) until 2015. Since 1990, 1.6 billion more people gained access to safe drinking water. This has clear indicator for success.
- FDCD says that 97% of Yemen’s land suffers from desertification The worst cases of desertification are in the northeastern states FDCD stated that wind and water erosion are two the primary causes of desertification 3.83 million hectares suffer effects caused by salty water. Nowadays, Yemen’s environment is worsening more than in the past, particularly as the country’s current population stands at 21.7 million, according to the 2004 general census. Such rapid population growth has increased human activities and maximized the usage of natural resources, thereby disturbing the balance between humans and the environment. The Agriculture and Irrigation Ministry’s Forestation and Desertification Control Department,
- Yemen ratified the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification on Dec. 31, 1996, which aims to alleviate desertification and drought in various countries. FDCD Director General Saleh Al-Dhamiri says, “There are many activities to combat desertification in various Yemeni governorates, including planting windbreaks and shelterbelts.” A windbreak or shelterbelt is a plantation usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion . Al-Dhamiri points out that current efforts to combat desertification depend on the local budget, while no efforts have been made in those areas needing international financial assistance. (Yemen Times) 1. Lack of implementing rules and policies fighting desertification. 2. The organization’s failure to divide and assign duties to each department or agency. 3. The poor job by various agencies to implement agreed points in the national fighting desertification plan. 4. The poor job organizing between involved departments. 5. Inability to communicate with regional and international programs. 6. Limited research and training programs in this field. Ali Mohammed Al-Thameri, an engineer at the General Department of Forestry and Desertification Control, insists that the main factor in the weakness of the work done to fight the problem in Yemen is his department’s scant financial support and economic resources to carry out the national plan to battle desertification. “ The plan is estimated at $24 million, whereas our annual budget doesn’t exceed $320 000 “ The department’s annual budget is only 1 percent of the ministry [of Agriculture]’s budget.”