Thursday, February 16, 2017

Yemen: Conflict and Agriculture

Yemen is a country that is dealing with major conflict. There are many impacts that conflict can have on countries and agriculture and food security are areas that are often vulnerable. Below is an article that discusses how conflict is affecting agriculture and food security in Yemen. We encourage you to look over the linked article and utilize the discussion points below to spark conversations around the globe.

Yemen Food Crisis Deteriorates

Discussion Points

  • What does food security and nutrition look like in Yemen currently? What has the trend over the past two years been? 
  • Explain the difference between food insecurity and malnutrition.
  • Explain the importance of agriculture to the country of Yemen.
  • What are the challenges facing agriculture in Yemen today? How do you feel these challenges could be overcome?
  • Norman Borlaug stated, "You can't build a peaceful world on empty stomachs." Explain how this statement relates to the current situation in Yemen.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Food insecurity is people struggling to feed themselves. In Yumen food insecurity has risen 3 million in the past 7 months. On the other hand, malnutrition is not being supplied or not getting the right nutrients which leads to not fulfilling their developmental potentials. This is keeping Yumen in a cycle of poverty and under development.

Anonymous said...

i think that we should help the Yemen to keep there agriculture up and running

Anonymous said...

Starvation is a nasty thing, people aren't just going to let their family's starve without a fight.

Anonymous said...

The importance of Agriculture to Yemen is vital for the economical and food aspects. Agriculture makes up 60% of the country and with the war going now it is greatly hurting agriculture in the country, and they help asap. With agriculture being impacted it hurts the whole country. With food insecurities and an economic crash the country of Yemen needs help.

Anonymous said...

Food security in Yemen is currently a problem. Food is scarce and some families do not get paid for months, causing them to go into debt or on credit. Currently Yemen has over 2 million malnourished children. What can we do? FAO is launching a 48.4 million project in Yemen that will support needy families. Their four main projects are agriculture kits and tools, Vegetable kits, irrigation systems, and emergency livestock protection by vaccinating millions of animals. UNICEF has supported hundreds of thousands of malnourished children and they are currently requesting $237 million to continue their work. This is excellent because the food insecurity is very high in Yemen and by people who are more fortunate in America helping, we can solve world problems of hunger slowly.

Anonymous said...

Agriculture in the country of Yemen is extremely important. When more than two thirds of Yemen's population of 27.4 million people are lacking access to food and an adequate diet. That alone just shows how much this country is in need of food. Especially after a civil war. Agriculture is a huge need for this country right now to start producing their own food to eat, so they don't end up starving themselves.

Anonymous said...

Food insecurity is people struggling to be able to feed themselves. Food insecurity has risen three million in the past seven months. Malnutrition is not being supplied and this is keeping Yemen in poverty and under development

Anonymous said...

I think that its sad and crazy that 17.1 million (65%) people are food insecure in yemen and family's are having to cut back on meals and some have to skip meals. 1.5 million house holds lack Access to critical feed and vacations for animals and many people are forced to sell their livestock for food.

Unknown said...

The food security and nutrition are both spiraling down the drain in Yemen. The last two years has been slowly getting worse and worse but recently have taken a big plunge and is at its worse and is still getting worse.

Anonymous said...

Its crazy that 17.1 million people are food insecure and that most family's have to skip meals so that they can have food on other days of the week.

Anonymous said...

Agriculture is important in Yemen because if Yemen could produce more crops they could feed more families and help drop the percent of families going without eating

Unknown said...

It would help to start a donation at every store in America to help raise funds.

Anonymous said...

It is important to recognize food insecurity because it affects millions of people. Food insecurity has caused malnutrition in over 2 million children and it has also caused the agriculture production in Yemen to fall rapidly. If organizations like UNICEF and FAO can provide resources and funds for Yemen then we will save millions of lives.

Anonymous said...

I think that the conflict within Yemen and their food problems is very sad and concerning. It's sad to hear that many children along with adults are being malnourished due to the ongoing conflict. Also its crazy how many people are being affected from the lack of crops and livestock.

Anonymous said...

food security and agriculture is going don hill in Yemen. Even worse 2 million kids are malnutrition and cannot get enough food.

Anonymous said...

Not only is the food shortage of Yemen a challenge in itself but, it will become a challenge for the future as well. By 2050 there will be 9 billion people on the earth that need to be fed. As of now one fifth of the worlds population is already severely malnourished so feeding the nine billion is going to test the human race. Although my generation itself has a lot of work to do, my children's generation will be the one to change its ways and develop different and more ideas to fix the need for more food. This will also have to occur in most if not all countries to achieve the world coming together to provide for the nine billion. The large number of children that are severely malnourished in Yemen is not a good sign for the future. The article states that the malnourished ¨children risk not fulfilling their developmental potential¨. These children are the future of their country and its part in helping to feed the nine billion. If a large amount of them have serious issues due to malnutrition than this will not be possible. Aside from the children's importance to feeding the nine, it is unfair for them to be starving. People in developed countries all over the world are full and even obese when these children are threatened with future disabilities due to not having enough food. Fixing issues like this is what our world depends on for the future.

Anonymous said...

I have never heard of Yemen so when I looked it up, I noticed it is one of the least developed countries. In Yemen, they are facing numerous environmental, social and political challenges such as poor education, food insecurity, lack of health care, etc. which is hindering their chances of becoming a more developed country. With the population rising, we will need about 70% more food to be able to feed them. However, that shouldn’t be a problem because the food levels have increased in the past 40 years. They are increasing yields, expanding cropland area, closing yield gaps and improving efficiency. Majority of the problem is not caused by the lack of food, but by the lack of financial income. The people living in these underdeveloped countries cannot afford half of what we take for granted. FAO believes the number of undernourished and malnourished people will go down however hunger will still exist because 20 percent of the population lives on $1.25 a day making it a sign of poor income distribution. It will be an even bigger issue if food prices go up and there will be disruption in the international trade. One way we can make a difference if by eliminating food waste. We can do this is by raising prices, having information campaigns (highlight financial impact), using new technologies to eliminate waste from storage and transportation. This will help cut food production down so we will only need to produce 45% more. Bourlags statement, "You can't build a peaceful world on empty stomachs" really hits home when learning about Yemen and these other underdeveloped countries because the lack of food in our world has been one of the most hardest challenges to overcome. -K.P. Somonauk

Anonymous said...

Food insincerity is a problem worldwide, and there is a large possiblity it could become a bigger problem by 2050. In Yemen there is currently about 17.1 million people struggling to feed themselves, with the rise of 3 million in the past seven months. Of 17.1 million people, 7.3 million are in need of emergency attention. Two-thirds of 27.4 million people, Yemen's population, lack food and maintain a poor diet. Food insincerity is the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food while malnutrition is the lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to use the food that one does eat. Agriculture in Yemen is very important because the population depends on raising their own food to survive. Challenges in Yemen include severely malnourished children, which is not good for the future because if countries continue to struggle with feeding the population how will the world be able to feed 9 billion. The quote, "You can't build a peaceful world on empty stomachs", applies to Yemen because with a majority of the population is dealing with a lack of food. With people starving in the world, they cant work on fixing other problems going on.

Anonymous said...

As many people know, by the year 2050 the world population is expected to reach 9 billion, this means we need to find ways to feed this large surplus of people. What many people do not know that, it is not food shortages that is the most concerning issue when it comes to feeding 9 billion people. The biggest issue that we must all overcome is finding a way to help people get the money to purchase their food. Many people all over the world are food insecure and do not have the means to purchase their food, or sometimes they just do not have access to any. Yemen is a prime example of this. With the current conflict in Yemen, roughly 65% of households there are food insecure. If some solutions are not sought out now, by the time we reach 2050 many people may be stuck in Yemen's shoes. While solving food insecurity is very difficult, it is not all around impossible. Overcoming food insecurity is just one of the many pressing issues that needs to be resolved by 2050 if we want to successfully feed 9 billion people.
J.P. Somonauk

Anonymous said...

Norman Borlaug once said, “You can’t build a peaceful world on empty stomachs.” His wise words ring true and are mirroring the current conflict in the underdeveloped country of Yemen. In this area, individuals are struggling greatly with food insecurity and malnutrition which is making the health conditions worsen and the people being left unhappy. When a person is left without food in their stomachs, it is hard to focus on other parts of their life aside from their hunger. They will do things, even if they are negative to their health, in order to survive, help their families, and potentially satisfy this most basic need on Maslow’s hierarchy. Without food access, people begin to deteriorate, agriculture jobs are lost, and food prices skyrocket due to supply and demand. These high prices cause families to go hungry as they are unable to pay for their meals as 20% of the world population lives on only $1.25 a day. All of these unfortunate scenarios are being recognized as half of Yemen’s households have to buy food on credit, children are not fulfilling their developmental potentials, and many individuals are reducing portions or skipping meals. To top off all of these negatives, the food shortage in Yemen is adding to the challenges we will have to face in 2050 as we will already be focused on the extra two billion mouths to feed. In order to begin fixing these major challenges, it is important we make the children of these areas our first priority. Being the future of their land and the ones who will come up with new innovations, we need to make sure this generation is getting the correct nutrition to allow their brains and bodies to grow to their utmost potential. To do this we must supply them with most advanced wheat and flours, educate them on how to decrease their own food waste from storage mistakes, provide them with simple information technologies, and proves to them that specific genetically modified crops can help protect against diseases and prevent yield plateaus. Overall, without the basic physiological needs met, people cannot move up to self actualization or their utmost potential. -R.O, Somonauk

Anonymous said...

Malnutrition and food insecurity are two similar things that affect people all over the world, but they have two meanings. Food insecurity is not being able to have access to enough nutritious and affordable food; malnutrition however, is not having enough proper nutrition because of lack of food. Yemen is an underdeveloped country and these countries rely highly on agriculture. Without the money and resources from crops, it is near impossible to have proper nourishment and live healthy. This goes along a lot with the topic of feeding the nine billion. There is enough food to feed everyone, especially the countries that do not have much due to problems with crops and the economy, but since food is not affordable and inaccessible for many, not all nine billion mouths will be fed. The article talks about how UNICEF creates hygiene kits for those who are the most vulnerable. My church also creates hygiene kits that are sent to places to Uganda to help them out. Why are these only sent to the most vulnerable? If more people joined in to help with things like hygiene kits, could these people be helped longer or could more people be helped? The number of people in Yemen who are food insecure or have malnutrition is rising. Since many people have little to no access to food they eat very little or have to skip multiple meals and are suffering to stay alive because this makes them deathly sick. After reading things that have to do with people not being able to eat I realize how fortunate I really am. Many people think they are going to starve just because they did not eat within the last hour, but people in other countries are literally starving from days without food. I really hope that in the future countries like Yemen can be helped to a point of good nutrition and little food insecurity. My last question is what can I do to help fix this problem?-E.D. Somonauk

Anonymous said...

The food shortage in Yemen is just a glimpse of what is expected for the future. In my Global Agriculture class we began to study and reach the food insecurity and how big this problem will be in the year 2050. In the year 2050 there is expected to be 9 billion mouths to feed. Today 1/5 of the worlds population is food malnourished. The importance that agriculture at the moment is going to increased dramatically by 2050. The ways the world is coming together in Yemen right now is similar to how the agriculture industry is going to be. Agriculture in Yemen is the main source of livelihood for at least 60 percent of Yemeni households. So the organizations reaching out a hand and wanting to help is a great outlook for the future and how the world will take on feeding everyone. Somonauk st

Anonymous said...

By the year 2050, we will need to increase food production by 70% in order to feed 9 billion people. Out of the 7 billion people in our world today, 800 million are malnourished, and another 2 million are not receiving essential micronutrients, yet the average human wastes 4.3 pounds of food every single day. It is sickening to think that while we have the option to waste food we don’t like, some people, like those in Yemen, don’t have enough food to feed themselves, let alone put to waste. Two thirds of the population in Yemen lack access to food that could nourish their bodies as many financially cannot afford to buy food. Because of this families eat less preferred food, skip meals or reduce their already small portions to try and make the food last longer. As Norman Borlaug once stated, "You can't build a peaceful world on empty stomachs." When we haven't eaten or complain that we are “starving” our thoughts are “I need food and I need it now” and fortunately for us, we know we will get food, and we know that we will have more than we can consume. Families and children in Yemen go to bed hungry, many are deathly sick, millions are food insecure, they have no peace of mind. How can our world be peaceful when people are starving? How can we go to bed at night, completely satisfied when people in countries we choose not to learn about are dying because they cannot get their hands on enough food to fill their bellies? How can we complain that we are starving and dying of thirst when so many people cannot enjoy all the luxuries, buffets, food and water that we have in the palm of our hand? As a developed country, we have all the technology and equipment we need to better our crops and produce more yield. Yemen is said to be one of the world’s least developed countries because they lack the seeds, fertilizer, and available water to grow their own crops to sustain their families and community. And those that raise livestock cannot afford to feed their herds enough food so they can produce milk, meat, eggs ect that they could eat. This country needs help, and we have the power to help them.

Anonymous said...

Food insecurity is the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. I fortunately come from a family who is not food insecure, but for many people that is not the case. As of 2015 there are over an estimated 795 million people who are food insecure around the world. By the year 2050 there will be around 9 billion people in the world based on the increasing rate of population. Today in just Yemen alone there are an estimated 17.1 million food insecure people and of those, 7.3 million are considered to be in need of emergency food assistance. A major factor that plays a part in food insecurity is the fact that people just do not have enough money to buy the most nutritious food that they may actually need. For people in Yemen and other places around the world food insecurity can be a result of not enough money, the lacking amount of nutritious food available, the result of poor farming techniques that need improving, and so many other factors that play a part. Sadly, Yemen is only one of many places facing the brutal outcomes of lacking affordable, nutritious food and in the last two years alone, UNICEF has supported the treatment of 460 000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition across Yemen. By the year 2050, the food production will need to increase by 70%, with so many people already today who are hungry and lack access they need to food, what will a growing world look like in just another 33 years? Will those who waste food on a daily basis begin to open their eyes to the world around them? Will people who have more than plenty of food realize how big their proportion sizes actually are? Or will more and more people finally wake up and realize that this is our world, this is our home, and these are our neighbors who are hurting? One thing I have learned in my 17 years it is that, “although it may not be happening to you, that does not mean it is not happening.”

Anonymous said...

Since we are blessed with having water and food all time, and also the technologies to harvest and make the foods. i just don't get how countries don't have food like us. Also with all our extra food and equipment and stuff like that why can't we give it to them? Or do we have to teach them new ways that can we used in their environment so that they aren't so dependent on us? EC somonauk

Anonymous said...

The food crisis in Yemen is a very concerning and eye opening problem. They have 17.1 million food insecure people. That is two-third of their population. This number is incredibly alarming especially because the population is only going to continue to grow. We are expected to have to feed 9 billion people by 2050, but we still have countries such as Yemen struggling to fees their current population. In Yemen 65% of households are food insecure. Not only are they food insecure but many people are malnourished. The malnutrition rate has passed 10% which is very bad. Malnutrition can greatly effect people's heath, especially children. It can effect and damage their growth and development. If Yemen's children are not developing correctly the future of the country may be negatively effected. Yemen is an agriculture dependent country. However, they have been struggling greatly resulting in this food crisis. Their biggest issue is lack of supplies and equipment. They lack the tools and equipment needed to plant and grow crops. They also lack feed for their animals. The people are being forced to sell their live stock because they simply can not feed them. They are also struggling with crop and livestock disease and are unable to control it. Yemen is in a very bad situation and is almost suck. They need help from their countries and organizations. I think if we could could get them some of the equipment and supplies they need, this would get them back on their feet. Then the people of Yemen need to learn about prevention so something like this does not happen again.
kk-somonauk

Anonymous said...

I Wish in some way we could share our surplus of water and food with these countries, yet if we were to they'd be too reliant, and lose any source of independence they had if we did. This indeed effects their population and health. If we were to travel out to them and show them techiques, or ways to store water better, I wonder if we could make a difference. Maybe even teach them to make a low cost line that flow water through the soils. If the population keeps growing like expected, these countries will suffer greatly if something is not done. -S.P Somonauk

Anonymous said...

In Yemen, two thirds of the population is food insecure. The current population is 27.4 million people. Because of this Yemen is in large amounts of distress. Agriculture can teach them how to farm correctly and the risk of wasting too much food for the people who are not food insecure. Education is key for understanding world hunger. If the population keeps growing at this exponential rate with uneducated people, world hunger will only grow exponentially along with the population. -A.C Somonauk

Anonymous said...

The food crisis in Yemen is one of many. Yemen has 17.1 million citizens who suffer from food insecurity, or two-thirds of their population. On top of having a large number of food insecure people, several of the people who are eating do not eat the proper food and are consequently malnourished. Being food insecure are not the same thing. When a person has food insecurity they are unsure when and where their next meal is going to come from, and when a person is malnourished they may be eating everyday but they are not consuming enough vitamins, nutrients, and proteins to live a healthy balanced life. This crisis is extremely alarming because, agriculture is the main source of livelihood for the people of Yemen. This means that the people of Yemen are first of all not eating enough and if they are eating it is not nutritionally sound. Second, the farmers of Yemen are not able to produce enough food to feed themselves, their family, and still have enough to sell and make a living off of. If the Yemen food crisis is not addressed and fixed soon the future of Yemen is not bright. Without nourishing Yemen's youth today there will be no future tomorrow. C.R.J.-Somonauk

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