Speeches Shim
Last updated: April 25, 2022
The buzz of a single honeybee may seem like an insignificant detail in a country facing the scale of economic and humanitarian challenges seen in Yemen. However, for the 100,000 or so beekeepers and businesses along the country’s honey value chain, it is a sound that resonates with the promise of improved livelihoods. Yemeni honey is among the most prized on the planet, and the country’s production has an essential role to play in rebuilding its economy and international exports. Even in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, USAID is revitalizing the Yemeni honey sector and spreading benefits to farmers and traders along the value chain through better technologies and new sales agreements. Since September 2020, USAID has helped honey farmers and buyers sign more than 50 sales agreements worth $1.5 million, with new fair price contracts being signed every week.
For Fikri Bashreema, running into engine problems on his small fishing boat used to mean big trouble. The closest repair shop was in Al Mukalla City, more than 130 miles away from his village in Mayfa’ah District. Traveling to Al Mukalla meant leaving his boat and fishing equipment unguarded, and spending money he could ill afford to secure a ride there and back again. The trip involved passing through time-consuming security checkpoints and, once he did make it to town, getting the engine fixed required further long waits because of backlogs at the repair shop. The time and money spent dealing with a broken engine, combined with the opportunity costs of not being able to continue catching and selling fish, could easily add up to a week or more of lost income.
In a livestock market in Sayo’un District, 10 goats dash around a dusty pen. Bleating energetically, the animals nuzzle with affection against the dark folds of their mistress’s balto —the long, loose flowing black garment that Yemeni women wear when they go out in public. Their keeper, Jameelah Mahfoodh Bash’hab, shows off her goats with pride. Thanks to the intensive feeding regimen and improved animal husbandry practices she learned with support from USAID, Mrs. Bash’hab’s goats are plump and healthy, bringing her faster and better returns than ever before. Results are enabling her to secure an improved livelihood for her family and the money to invest in a growing goat-fattening business.
Ten years ago, Ebtisam Al Baras never would have imagined herself as a successful entrepreneur. Following the dictates of strict social conventions, her responsibilities as a wife and mother defined her life and rarely took her beyond the enclave of the family home. With the war, however, everything changed. Her husband lost his employment as a road engineer, and the family faced serious struggles to make ends meet. For the first time, Mrs. Al Baras found herself searching for ways to contribute to her family’s livelihood. Prompted by members of her tight-knit community, who appreciated the fine taste of her cookies and cakes, Mrs. Al Baras launched a small business selling baked items from her kitchen to her close neighbors and relatives. She called her company “A Sprinkle of Sugar.”
Abdul is a 10-year-old boy who dropped out of school in the first grade. “I had no friends,” he explains. “My schoolmates used to make fun of me, and call me bad names because of my eye.”
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