For Yemeni beekeeper Mohammed Saif, honey production used to be a lucrative business, but years of war and climate change have sapped the family’s hives.
The business, passed down from father to son, “is slowly disappearing,” Saif told AFP. “The bees are being plagued by strange phenomena. Is it climate change or the effects of war? We really don’t know.”
One of the world’s poorest countries, Yemen has been plagued by a deadly conflict since 2014, pitting Iran-backed Houthis against government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in fighting, disease and malnutrition over the past eight years, and the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed.
But a fragile UN-brokered ceasefire has been in place since April, giving the country and its war-weary population some breathing space.
In the southwestern region of Taez, Saif recently made an inventory of his hives in a rugged valley surrounded by mountains.
Before the war, Saif said, the family managed 300 beehives, now only 80 are left.
Experts consider Yemeni honey among the best in the world, including the prized Royal Sidr, known for its therapeutic properties.
The United Nations says honey plays a “vital role” in Yemen’s economy, with 100,000 households dependent on it for their livelihoods.
– Bee ecosystems battered –
But “enormous losses have been inflicted on industry since the outbreak of the conflict,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a June report.
“Armed conflict and climate change threaten the continuity of a 3,000-year-old practice,” the ICRC said.
“Successive waves of evictions to flee violence, the impact of gun contamination on production areas, and the increasing impact of climate change are leaving thousands of beekeepers in dire straits and significantly reducing production.”
Saif knows all too well.
“Last year in our village a rocket hit a beekeeper’s hives. He lost everything,” he said.
“The war affected us very badly. The fighters have targeted many areas where bees can be found,” he added.
The ICRC’s Bashir Omar said the conflict has limited the ability of beekeepers to roam the land freely when flowers are in bloom to collect the honey.
Land mines and active front lines are among the challenges they face.
“To make matters worse, Yemen, like many conflict-affected countries, is disproportionately affected by climate change,” the ICRC report said.
“The rise in temperature in recent years, combined with serious environmental changes, is disrupting the bee ecosystem, affecting the pollination process,” it said.
“With falling water tables and increasing desertification, areas that previously engaged in agricultural activities and beekeeping can no longer sustain these livelihoods.”
The ICRC is offering financial support and training for beekeepers this year, following a similar initiative in 2021 that helped nearly 4,000 of them.
Nabil al-Hakim, who sells Yemen’s famous yellow nectar in Taez shops, also recalled the golden days before the conflict ravaged his country.
“Before the war we could make a good living selling honey… but honey has become scarce and customers can no longer afford it,” he said.
“I used to sell up to 25 five-liter jars a month. Now I can’t even sell one.”
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