Indigenous Approach to Water Resources Management and Conflict Resolution in Yemen

Indigenous Approach to Water Resources Management and Conflict Resolution in Yemen

Moneer Al-Omari*

Yemen's ancient civilization was agricultural in nature. Later, commerce came to be important as well, given the fact that the country is situated on the famous trade route of spices best known as the "Spices Road" which connects South East Asia including China and India with ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, the Levant, Egypt and beyond. The country was also producing some of these spices like frankincense.

However, having fertile lands and adequate rainfall were good reasons for developing an agriculture-based civilization. This has prompted the Greek Geographer Ptolemy  to call it Eudaimon Arabia (the Arabia Felix in Latin or the Happy Arabia in English).

Sustainability, in its modern representation, is not new for Yemenis who used to be very sensitive in the use of natural resources around them. They have carefully worked towards a balanced, right and renewable use of these limited resources.

One of the fascinating points is that Yemenis had realized the limitations of their environment and the scarcity of most natural resources like water which was and still is very dear.  This is why they had created their own unique adoption techniques to handle the scarcity issues. 

Indigenous Approach to Water Management

Yemen is located in one of the dry and semi-arid regions of the world and the country is extremely poor in terms of water resources. There are no permanent rivers at all and people rely on rainwater or surface water like streams, ponds, etc. for satisfying their growing needs for water.

Despite the fact that Yemen's climate and weather conditions have not changed a lot, Yemenis, most specifically those living in mountainous areas, used to have sufficient water supplies. This was made possible by their careful use of the available water resources, most specifically rainwater. Most of rainwater and floods were harvested using small or large dams, barriers, reservoirs, cisterns, etc. The country's average annual rainfall ranges from 500 to 800 mm in the high lands, 50 to 100 in the coastal areas and less than 50 mm in the desert areas.

According to the World Bank, a Yemeni's per capita share of water is estimated to be 137 m³, which is way far below the WHO's water poverty line of 1000 m³. This negatively compares to 1,250 m² in the MENA region and 7,500 m² worldwide. This per capita share is expected to further decrease to 75 m² over the next two decades. The shortage of water has been prompted mainly by the inflated growth of population which increases by 3.5% annually and the expansion in economic, agricultural, development and industrial activities. However, agriculture places most strain on groundwater resources, especially when irrigated agriculture is responsible for 90% for groundwater consumption. Qat plantation, which used to occupy insignificant area of arable lands, has stretched over the last few decades to cover about 15% of the country's cultivated areas and to consume about 70% of the groundwater being extracted.   

Most of the old techniques meant for harvesting rainwater are still present, but they suffer from complete negligence. Still, these monumental works do evidence how ancient Yemeni people where very much skilled at making the best use of available water resources and harvesting rainwater.

Mareb Dam

In order to harvest rainwater and use it during the dry season of winter, ancient Yemenis built dams, cisterns, barriers, etc. Dams were everywhere and they were built in all places wherever floods and rainwater can be harvested. Mareb Historic Dam does provide an evidence for this skill of Yemeni people.

Mareb's dam was not the only one as they were thousands of large and small dams and this has led the poet to boast of having over 80 dams that harvest water in Yahseb, the name of the area surrounding Qa'a Al-Hakel Valley and Zafar, the old capital of Himyarite State that flourished over the period 110 BC – 520 AD.  

Recharging Underground Water

Yemenis were also sensitive with their environment. They never cut perennial trees or root them out for wood. They used to collect only dry wood for cooking purposes. They will just cut the leaves from perennial trees during the dry season to sprout again during the rainy season. Small forests were everywhere and these forests were necessary for balancing the nature.

They have also built dams, large and small, everywhere in addition to barriers for harvesting rainwater and recharging the unground water.  They also used to dig ditches, ponds and holes on the ground where water is harvested to penetrate and recharge the underground water. 

Indigenous Approach to Conflict Resolution

Drivers of conflicts over scarce water resources are varied and the government and local authorities should investigate and look into the reasons that fuel these conflicts. Solutions of conflicts relating to flood water direction, water distribution, property rights, etc. have their origins in the past traditions and rules set forth by ancient Yemeni people.

Yemeni people used to have some system in place for resolving conflicts or tensions arising over water resources. Government and people, now, are supposed to build on those good traditions to solve the current conflicts or innovate similar traditions for handling and resolving problems that were nonexistent before.

They have created conventional rules for utilizing different water resources including floods resulting from rainwater, irrigation from dams, reservoirs and barriers and conflicts were therefore nonexistent. 

Improving water resources management and promoting sustainable use of ground water are essential for preventing an imminent catastrophe and not having the country running out of water in a matter of one to two decade's time.
 

How serious is Water Problem?

In a survey conducted by the Social Research and Development Center (SRDC) last year and targeted 500 respondents in four Yemeni provinces (Sana'a, Taiz, Al-Hodeidah and Amran), an overwhelming majority of respondents (81%) stated that their areas face a water crisis, versus 19% who stated that their areas do not face any water crisis.

Asking those who stated their areas face a water crisis about the seriousness of this crisis, about 71% stated that is very serious and nearly 23% said it is somewhat serious, while 4% stated that is somewhat unserious.

When asked about the nature of this water problems, 53% of respondents who said they areas face a water crisis mentioned water scarcity and 42% referred to the difficulty to access water, while 3% spoke of water pollution and 2% referred to the high cost of water.   

The solutions to water crisis as proposed by respondents include building dams and water barriers (33%) and rationalizing water use according to 17%, while 10% were for seawater desalination, 7% opted for banning new drilling of water wells, 21% mentioned other solutions and 11% answered “do not know”.

Managerial Approaches to Water Resource Management

Water resource governance leads to sustainability, transparency,  rule of law and participatory approach to management and responsibility. This involves not only top-bottom involvement, but also encouraging bottom-up approaches.

Technical solutions meant for reducing ground water consumption should accompany the traditional techniques for water resource governance to ensure an efficient and sustainable use of water resources.

Managerial approaches include also introducing new crops, especially cash crops, while doing a with crops like Qat which is responsible for consuming a huge quantities of water and straining the national economy. High taxes could be levied on using water for qat plantation and trade.

Built on Yemen people's indigenous culture for harvesting rainwater and rationalizing its use, the government and donors should encourage farmers to adopt new techniques for irrigation and to develop own their tools and methods. Farmers should be financially supported with easy loans or government subsidies to install new irrigation techniques including drip irrigation.

* Moneer Al-Omari is the Director of the Social Research and Development Center (SRDC). He is also a member of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate. He can be reached on: alomari@srdcyemen.org.

The report was originally published in the Yemen Observer Newspaper on February 19, 2015

Source: http://www.yemenobserver.com/reports/1259-indigenous-approach-to-water-resources-management-and-conflict-resolution-in-yemen.html