Farmers in Yemen uproot khat and return to coffee cultivation

More than 40 types of coffee are produced in Yemen

Despite their suffering from a lack of water, farmers in Yemen are returning to cultivating coffee trees. They uproot khat, which is a mild narcotic, and instead plant coffee trees, the origin of their first ancestors. Before the years of war and siege, coffee was one of the most valuable commodities in Yemen, but its trade and export declined throughout the country. Farmers are always looking for the highest ratings and the best types of coffee.

SANAA - With apparent enthusiasm, farmers in the Haraz highlands near the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, are allocating more land for coffee cultivation to help preserve it as a valuable export product.

Farmers in Haraz are uprooting khat trees, a mild narcotic widely consumed locally for relaxation, to grow coffee in their place. Haraz lies about 90 km southwest of Sanaa, with fortified mountain villages clinging to almost inaccessible rocky peaks 3,000 meters above sea level.

Aseel al-Wahhab, a farmer from the Wadi Masar Beit al-Qans region, says, "We uproot the qat tree and plant coffee, because the coffee trade has become better and better and has grown in these past few years. We have returned to the origin, the origin of our first ancestors. We uproot the qat tree, which wastes time and money. This region One of the best coffee regions.

Fahd Al-Shahari, one of the producers of Yemeni coffee, said, "We are always looking for the highest ratings and the best types of coffee. This area in western Haraz, Masar (Wadi) is considered one of the best areas from which we produce coffee, and it always gives us high ratings. Most of the winning samples in 2022 in the national auction were from these." Region".

Despite their suffering from a lack of water, farmers are returning to plant coffee trees, including Muhammad al-Khawlani, a coffee farmer in Masar Beit al-Qans, who told Reuters TV, "We are now in the Masar Beit al-Qans area, in Ras al-Wadi, and we suffer from a lack of water for coffee." The delay in coffee until this time is due to the lack of water, for the bottom of the valley now they finished two months ago, and we are suffering from a lack of water, and when the time of cold comes now, most of the coffee is spoiled.”

Qat cultivation has increased over the past few years and is estimated to consume a third of the groundwater resources and most of the arable land in Yemen.

Hussein Al-Harazi, the owner of coffee farms in the village of Al-Hijrah in the Manakhah district of the capital, Sana'a, said that the low price he receives from wholesalers prompted him and a number of farmers in the same area to think about finding other alternatives through which he can deliver his product and receive the price he deserves in order to improve his income.

Al-Harazi added, "In the past, I used to sell one kilo of coffee fruits for two thousand Yemeni riyals (about $33.3), while its price recently decreased to 1,500 riyals." He pointed out that "this price does not even cover the expenses of cultivating it and transporting it from the farm to the market."

One of the most prominent alternatives that some farmers began to consider after the decline in coffee prices is relying on the cultivation of the qat tree, according to what was reported by farmer Ahmed Al-Nahmi. Al-Nahimi explains that qat trees bring more benefit than coffee, because the latter needs great care and higher expenses, and despite that, it is not sold at the desired prices.

Coffee farmers face multiple problems that have led to a decline in its annual crop, the most important of which is drought with the absence of water conservation methods such as barriers and dams to retain rain water and use it when needed.

Although many farmers uproot thirsty qat trees and replace them with coffee, qat and coffee crowd the terraces surrounding the high mountain villages of Haraz.

Historically, coffee was one of the most valuable commodities in Yemen, but with the years of war and siege, coffee trade and export declined throughout the country.

According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations last year, Yemen currently produces a relatively small amount of coffee, estimated at about 20,000 tons annually, compared to Ethiopia's production of 400,000 tons.

The report indicated that despite the increase in revenues from Yemeni coffee exports from $8.5 million in 2016 to $17 million in 2019, they are still low. Yemen produces many types of coffee, such as Ismaili, Al-Harazi, Al-Haimi, Al-Khawlani and Al-Adini, which are among the more than 40 types of coffee produced in the country.

“In fact, Yemen has the most genetic diversity of coffee in the world,” said Amin Al-Azab, a researcher in the field of genetic resources for coffee at the National Center for Agricultural Research. We are in Yemen, I can tell you we are now registering 44 genotypes, strains or varieties, 44 now we are registering them, but is it all that is in Yemen? no. Yemen is so rich, there are still so many areas we haven't reached."

Despite the primitive methods and systems used by Yemenis in cultivating this type of plant, it has a special taste compared to what other countries produce. Studies suggest that Yemen is the home of the first coffee, as the Yemenis were among the first to grow it and use it as a drink, and they used to export it initially through the port of Mocha in the west of the country, and this is what gave its name to one of the types of international coffee called “Mocha Coffee”.

There are types of Yemeni coffee, such as Al-Fadli, Al-Bora’i, Al-Yaf’i, Al-Raimi, Al-Matari, Al-Khawlani, Al-Ansi, Al-Ismaili, Al-Harazi, and others that are either dry or natural, and some of them are mixed with chocolate.

The Yemeni coffee tree is always green, and its length ranges between 5 and 6 meters. It is also characterized by red fruits when ripe, which are roasted to prepare a coffee drink from them. On the third of March, the Yemenis celebrate the "Mocha Festival" or the National Day to encourage coffee cultivation, and that name is still used in all international cafes.

"Yemeni coffee" maintains an important position because of its high quality, as it grows in mountainous terrain that gives it a distinctive taste, but interest in its production has recently diminished due to several factors, most notably the war that the country has been witnessing for about 8 years. Yemen's coffee or coffee is considered one of the most delicious drinks in the world, and the country was famous for planting this tree in its mountains and high plateaus hundreds of years ago.

Coffee is also the second most consumed beverage around the world, which has led to a record high in global prices. But its production in Yemen has declined for years, and this has led to a decrease in stocks due to the high costs of what it requires, and the high shipping costs that have doubled since the start of the war, which does not seem to have a glimmer of hope for its end, according to farmers.

This war also made it difficult to export all that comes out of Yemen's bounties, such as honey, coffee and others, which led to a decline in Yemenis' interest in cultivating this product.

The price of Yemeni coffee rises because of its distinctive taste, and because it is hand-picked in a primitive way that has not changed for hundreds of years. The reason for this may be due to the skill of the Yemeni farmer who grows coffee on terraces.

Also, avoiding chemicals in its production affects its quality. One of the reasons why Yemeni coffee is distinguished is that the coffee beans are not removed from the fruits that grow in them before they dry, and then left to dry in special periods that occur mainly in high areas where there is fresh air away from dust or waste dumps.

The terrain of Yemen, including the highlands, represents the main factors in obtaining high-quality coffee that contains the most delicious and delicate flavors, as this high and rugged nature leads to the production of high-quality coffee beans.

In order to achieve the best results, coffee cultivation should be at an altitude of 2,400 meters above sea level, which is available in a number of Yemeni regions that grow coffee, including Al-Mahweet, Sana’a, Hajjah and Saada, the largest coffee-producing regions in northern Yemen.