Yemen Times undertakes an inquiry into poverty in Abyan Governorate [Archives:2004/747/Community]

Aden Bureau
Specialists agree that the definition of poverty is not only limited to deprivation from the daily food and drinking commodity goods, but also to include the deprivation of citizens from prime capabilities such as the right to have education, to receive good health services, and to enjoy public freedoms. Each citizen has the right also to participate in decision making at least at the provisional level.
Poverty constitutes a major stumbling block to achieving sustainable development and improving growth rates. It represents a serious threat to safety, stability and public tranquility.
Through our reconnaissance with different segments of society, specialists, and researchers to uncover the reality of the situation, we heard of associations, charities and organizations concerned with poverty, but seemingly of no actual benefits except to their closest relatives and those working in them. “Charity is exclusively for those who could be of some benefit to the charities. They are always the nominees to receive even the almsgiving if their living conditions were fine. But the situations of vast majority of citizens in Abyan get poorer and poverty has become a fertile breeding ground for so-called terrorism and the multiplication of terrorists or extremists in commercial quantities for the local market and to be exported abroad”, said a citizen bitterly.
Thus, how would the situation be of a person who receives 10,000 Riyals per month, if he supports 10 family members after paying off electricity, water and telephone bills. To resolve this difficult equation from the prospective of many citizens in Abyan governorate, we found the following:
Name: Mohamed Hassan Wared; Age: 70 years old; Occupation: retired; Number of dependents: 10; Monthly pension: 10,000 Riyals.

Items of expenditures per month in Riyals:
Two bags of flour: 5200; ghee: 2500; sugar: 900; tea: 400; fish (four times per month): 400; rice: 1000; tomato paste: 600; vegetables: 1500; soap: 500; cooking gas: 300.

In addition:
Medication: God is the relief; (eggs, meat, milk): we only hear of them; weddings and condolences: we do not condole or congratulate anyone; school and accessories: the poor do not learn (first they have to eat); any personal habits (cigarettes, Qat): yes, but suspended for the time being; transportation: on foot; and finally fruits: no way.
The above is a sample of the vast majority of citizens in Abyan. To get more insight, we asked a former Taxes Director, Mr. Mohamed Ali Al-Dowail, about the social and services effects of the growing of poverty phenomenon in Abyan Governorate. He said that the poverty phenomenon is patently clear through the following social and services indicators. The fertility rate is 5.9%, one of the highest rates in the world, and considering that one third of pregnant women are suffering from Anemia, the fatality rate among children is 67.8 per one thousand. Of 10 new born babies, two of them suffer from malnutrition, and 57% of them are considered very short in height.
Despite these situations, family planning methods are not sufficient in rural. Only 57.6% of the population receives primary education, whilst 68% of the population are considered illiterate. As far as the health situation is concerned, there is one doctor for 4100 residents, one nurse for 2100 patients and one hospital bed for 1664 patients. Despite the recent spread of dispensaries, the majority of the population in Abyan cannot afford to use them. For water, electricity and sanitation services, water covers only 57% of population, electricity reaches 30% of them, whilst sanitation services are limited to only 6.2%.
This is attributed to the real change in wages that was causes by the doubling of prices of goods and commodities so that the average real wage for a worker plummeted from 4385 Riyals in 1990 to merely 1358 Riyals in 1995.
Researcher Ali Ahmed Al-Baidhani explained the size of the misery many people in Abyan live in, and that they depend on agricultural activities. When their lands became arid due to the shortage of rainfall, many of them have one piece of white bread and water as their daily main meal. Many others do not eat rice, except on special occasions. The vast majority of citizens in Abyan do not have three meals a day regularly.
“Of the major priorities of the government is to have clear strategic plans to diagnose the reality of the situation and to determine capabilities and natural resources in order to achieve the objectives”, said Mr. Omr Sheikh, Director of the Investment Department in Abyan. Yemen is rather a poor country with a population of 19 million people, 40% of which live in poverty. The economy of the country is still based on a primitive market system despite government efforts to modernize and reform, he elaborated.
The Director expressed his hope for a brighter future in Yemen and his optimism for the improvement of the situation of each member of society, who is considered the primary objective of development. He pointed out that the local authority plays a vital role in laying down programs and projects, in their implementation, pushing the wheel of investment and in the contribution to resolve several social problems such as poverty.
“As a citizen from Khanfar Province, I can say that poverty has increased horribly. The number of street beggars of different age groups has trebled in recent years and many families since the 90s have not been able to sustain having three meals a day. Many families do not have the resources to drink tea. They only eat meat on “Eid Al-Adha”, if it is distributed by charities. White meat such fish is accessible to them rarely. They can only look at fruits since they cannot afford to buy them. Many families search for the left-over food of other families in rubbish bins”, reported Mr. Muhsen Abdo Saeed, portraying bitterly the situation of many citizens in Abyan.
The unemployment rate stands at 15.3%, the average net income required for each family is 36,000 Riyals per month, the percentage of families without sufficient food is 30%, and the percentage of those living under the poverty line is 34.9%. Many citizens cannot afford proper medicine, many children do not go to school, and many citizens are unemployed.
At the conclusion of our reconnaissance, Dr. Saodi Ali Obied, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Economics at Aden University, summarized the reasons for the poverty phenomenon in Abyan as follows:
1- Following the unification of the country, many citizens lost their jobs due to the state's liquidation of government farms, agricultural and services associations.
2- The weakness of investment, both public and private. Since May 1990, no tangible investment projects have been carried out capable of meeting the educational output of secondary schools, technical and vocational institutes nor from universities.
3- The prevalence of the phenomenon of corruption at all levels leading to the diminution of financial and economic resources in the governorate, therefore, hampering development and subsequently exacerbating the phenomenon of poverty.
4- The uneven distribution of public jobs at the Ministry of Civil Service leading to the accumulation of the unemployed. Many vacant or available jobs are offered to the highest bidder, beyond the reach of those with a limited income.
5- Finally, the lack of serious contributions from the private sector to economic development. If not reluctant to join in development, the private sector only contributes in the plundering of natural resources. Moreover, the private sector in Yemen is a family structure business, and only the relatives are benefiting from any project of the private sector.
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