P O L I C Y B R I E

Rethinking Yemen’s Economy | March 2024 3 THE IMPACT OF FLOODING ON AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITIES IN YEMEN Background Food and economic security Heavy storms and severe flooding have affected agriculture production and contributed to the destabilization of the fractured Yemeni state, considered the second most fragile of 179 surveyed worldwide.[10] During the cur. [...] Thousands of acres of agricultural land were flooded and equipment and infrastructure, such as roads and dams, were destroyed, and many farmers remain unable to use their land as they cannot afford the high cost of repairs.[18] The result has been crop losses, reduced yields, and disruptions to the agricultural supply chain.[19] [10] “Measuring Fragility - Risk and vulnerability in 179 countries,”. [...] Displacement requires affected individuals to adapt their occupations and activities to new economic circumstances, decreasing the number of farmers in the workforce and the number of farms in operation. [...] In areas such as Ibb and Taiz, rapid increases in population, urban expansion on the outskirts of cities, fragmentation of agricultural holdings through inheritance, and the manipulation of water channels by property owners and influential individuals have exacerbated the impact of floods. [...] The Center’s Yemeni Government anchor their in- with a focus on implementing publications and programs, offered terventions in a deep understanding projects in close cooperation and in both Arabic and English, cover of Yemen’s national and local con- partnership with stakeholders in texts, and international best prac- the Middle East.