Taxes, looting and acquisition.. Al-Houthi is a desertification scourge that threatens the agricultural sector in Yemen
English - Sunday 09 July 2023 الساعة 04:43 pm
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:
Hundreds of farmers in Yemen have resorted to alternative energy "solar energy" in order to secure water for their crops, instead of "diesel" fuel, which costs them large sums of money to extract water from underground wells and pump it to farms.
Farmers of Al-Hada district in Dhamar governorate, central Yemen, hastened to replace their electric generators that run on fuel, and replace them with solar panels that operate pumps for suction from wells and pumping to farms.
A farmer in the district told "NewsYemen": Before the absurd Houthi war, we relied on "diesel" fuel to operate the pumps, and its cost was very low. Today, however, it has become very difficult to obtain simple liters of diesel, except through black markets that sell fuel at double prices
He added: During the years of war and until now, some farmers still incur large costs in order to purchase fuel to operate well pumps and irrigate farms and crops, indicating that the benefit that the farmer reaps becomes very little after paying the exorbitant fuel expenses.
He explained that many farmers have installed the solar energy system in the underground wells that were dug near the farms, with the aim of securing permanent sources of water for the crops and irrigate them continuously, indicating that the farmers got rid of the most important problems they face in continuing cultivation and not giving up on it. However, there are other problems with fertilizers and levies imposed by the Houthi supervisors, including taxes and other money that is taken by force from farmers.
Alternative solution
The black markets for the sale of fuel belonging to the Houthi militia - Iran's arm in Yemen, are one of the most important financial resources on which the Houthi leaders rely, whether for wealth or support for military operations against liberated areas and neighboring countries.
The farmers segment is one of the most important groups that generate a large income for these Houthi markets. Where the farmer is forced to buy large quantities of fuel at exorbitant prices to operate generators to irrigate agricultural crops that are threatened with drought if they are not irrigated with water.
Over the years, the Houthi militia has been fabricating fuel crises, especially in "diesel", which farmers rely on to operate their large generators. The Houthi leaders supervising the black markets continued to exploit farmers and force them to pay huge sums of money in exchange for the required quantities of fuel.
And with the adoption of clean alternative energy by farmers through the sun, the spirit and life returned to many agricultural lands, which began to desertify, due to the inability of their owners to buy fuel and irrigate their crops due to their high costs.
Farmer Yahya says: Today, thanks to the solar panels, we were able to expand agriculture and produce more crops after providing water without effort or hardship, explaining that the spirit has returned to many farms in Al-Hada district, and people have begun to breathe a little after the most important obstacle they were facing was over.
Deadly taxes and levies
The farmers' joy did not last long. After the farmers' reluctance to buy fuel from the black markets, the Houthi leaders resorted to innovating new methods in order to annoy farmers again, this time by imposing a new tax on all users of solar energy panels.
According to farmer Yahya and some workers in the sector in Dhamar Governorate, the farmer was surprised by the imposition of a new tax ranging from 60,000 to 100,000 riyals for each farm, in return for allowing the operation of solar energy panels and irrigation of their farms. The Houthi supervisors vowed to prosecute all farmers who refused to pay the new tax, imprison them, and confiscate their crops.
This suffering was not limited to the imposition of the tax only, but also required farmers not to dig water wells on their farms or private lands except after obtaining official licenses issued by their affiliates. These licenses are very costly, amounting to between 4 and 5 million riyals, and aim to place new burdens on farmers to abandon the decision to use solar panels and return to buying fuel from their black markets.
The Houthi militia also imposed levies on crops, and the collectors of those levies intensified their visits to farmers inside villages and central and secondary markets, not to mention the checkpoints that are widely spread on the roads and at the entrances to districts and cities, where farmers are forced to pay large sums of money in exchange for allowing them to pass and display their agricultural crops.
The farmers' suffering does not end here only, as there is another concern represented in the purchase of fertilizers and pesticides, which are additional needs incurred by the farmer in order to produce a distinguished crop that is sold in the market. These needs double their price insanely, especially with the militias tightening their control over the pesticides and fertilizers trade completely.
plundering agricultural lands
During the nine years of war, farmers were one of the most affected groups in Yemen by the crimes and violations of the Houthi militia. This largest segment of the country's workforce, which amounts to 73.5 percent of the population, was not far from the Houthis' systematic targeting.
In addition to the violations farmers are subjected to, the imposition of illegal levies and fees, and the costs of fuel, fertilizers and pesticides, the phenomenon of seizing large agricultural areas has recently emerged in several Yemeni governorates under the control of the Houthi militia. And the latest Houthi looting, the looting of more than 1,500 farms in the various directorates of Al-Jawf Governorate, which is under the control of the militias, in new fraudulent ways.
According to sources in the Agriculture Office in Al-Jawf Governorate, the Houthi militia has expanded its movements, looting and expansion to control more farms by deceptive methods and tricks and by using force. During the last period, it established and established companies and institutions concerned with the agricultural sector, purchasing crops and monopolizing them, as part of a scheme to plunder farmers and their property.
The sources indicated that the Houthi companies and institutions, headed by the "Cereal Development and Production Corporation", seized more than 1,500 farms in Al-Matoun, Khab Al-Sha'af, Al-Yatmah and Al-Ghail. These companies also concluded deceptive commercial deals with loyal tribal figures who claim ownership of agricultural lands belonging to citizens and displaced persons fleeing the hell of the Houthi war.
The Houthi looting also affected about 4,900 hectares in the Al-Jawf desert, owned by the state under the name of the endowments. Where these areas were taken and harnessed for the interests of the militias, which forced farmers to work in them to achieve their own interests.
The sources indicated that the Houthi militia, through its newly developed agricultural institutions, rented a farm with an area of 26 hectares in the fertile Al-Kharid Valley, in return for paying 50,000 riyals annually for each hectare to the owner, according to tribal sources.
The sources also confirmed the robbery of the so-called "People's Social Development Foundation," owned by the Houthi leader Ahmed al-Kibsi, on the People's Farm and the looting of approximately 53 hectares of agricultural land owned by the state under the name of endowments. According to tribal sources, the Houthi gang has established an office called the “Agricultural Investment Office for Renting Agricultural Lands,” to push brokers under the name of investment to buy vast agricultural lands in the “Al-Yatma” area owned by an entire tribe, from only three people at low prices, without the consent of the rest of the landowners.
The decline of agriculture
Several governorates witnessed a noticeable decline in agriculture, and the disappearance of a large number of crops that were grown in them, due to the systematic targeting of them by the Houthi militia.
Peasants fell between the Houthi pincers, starting with taxes and levies and plundering crops, and ending with looting and looting farms by force or trick. This greatly affected the decline in crop production, which threatens a major food crisis if these crimes against the Yemeni agricultural sector continue.
In addition, the intermediary companies, as the Houthis call them, act as a means of targeting farmers, forcing them to sell their agricultural crops to them, especially fruits, at a low price, in order to distribute them to the markets at very high prices, making billions from the sweat and toil of farmers.
As it is known, agriculture in Yemen contributes about 80 percent of the national income of Yemen and provides employment opportunities for about 54 percent of the workforce across the country. The Houthi militia's destructive actions of the agricultural sector have incurred significant economic losses in the country, as official government reports revealed direct damages and losses to the agricultural sector in Yemen since the beginning of the war, amounting to about $111 billion.
The continuous deterioration of the agricultural sector, and the reluctance of farmers to continue producing crops due to Houthi levies, looting and robbery, has led to an increase in the threat of desertification expansion in the country and the significant decline of agricultural areas. According to the General Directorate of Forests and Desertification; Almost 97 percent of the agricultural land in Yemen is now threatened by increasing desertification, which currently accounts for about 90 percent of the country's agricultural area.
Despite this disastrous situation resulting from the Houthi war, many Yemeni farmers are still trying to grow enough crops to be self-sufficient in their homes.
