Climate impacts in Yemen

Yemen Times: Long-term implications of climate change (local and global) will lead to a total accumulated reduction of household income of between $5.7 billion and $9.2 billion by 2050. Moreover, between 80,000 and 270,000 Yemenis, primarily non-farm households in rural areas could go hungry due to climate change. This household group is projected to lose an accumulated 3.5 to 5.7 billion US$ as a consequence of longer term climate change by 2050. Their loss is a direct result of decrease of income opportunities created outside the agriculture and urban sectors.

These were the findings of a recent paper “Climate Change and Floods in Yemen” by Manfred Wiebelt, Clemens Breisinger, Olivier Ecker, Perrihan Al-Riffai, Richard Robertson , and Ranier Thiele, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute. The study aimed to assess the impacts of climate change on the Yemeni economy, agriculture, and household income and food security.

The study also highlights solutions and options for adaptation to deal with the probable impacts. “Action to mitigate the negative effects of climate change and variability should to be taken on the global and local level,” said Wiebelt.

The recommendations include a global action plan for improving food security, combined with a better integration of climate change in national development strategies, and agricultural and rural policies. Disaster risk management and social protection policies will be keys for improving Yemen’s resilience in the face of climate change....

High rises at Shibam, Wadi Hadhramaut (or Hadhramout, Hadramawt) Yemen, shot by Jialiang Gao www.peace-on-earth.org, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license