Shortage of Water Resources in Yemen - Case Study Example

Shortage of Water Resources: The Case of Yemen Professor’s Name University The City and State Shortage of Water Resources: The Case of Yemen Introduction Water is an essential element for supporting life. It is also required in supporting economic, social, and environmental objectives through agriculture, conservation, and health as well as sanitation. Nonetheless, the world faces increased shortage of water resources. It is estimated that only 1% of the earth’s water is fresh. This means that the rest of the water is salty water, which is not safe for consumption and use in agriculture or industrial activities. Moreover, human activities such as agriculture, industrialization, urbanization, and environmental degradation have worsened the state of water resources. Areas that were dependent on increased rainfall have experienced reduced rainfalls as well as droughts over the past few centuries. Underground water has also been exploited to near depletion due to increased human activities. Water scarcity is a key concern for all based on the reducing water resources around the world. Yemen is the worst hit country in terms of shortage of water resources and has even been forecasted to be the first country in the world to run out of water. The following paper aims at discussing the water scarcity crisis in Yemen. The case study will explore ways that social science concepts, theories, and methods can contribute to resolving the shortage of water resources in Yemen. Yemen Water Crisis Yemen is among the world’s poorest and driest countries faced with increased economic, social, environmental, and political issues. Historically, Yemen was once a water engineering harbor with advanced irrigation systems. For instance, the Great Dam of Marib is considered as an engineering genius of the ancient world (Giesecke, 2012). Yemen has historically supported its water supply until recent changes in the past century. In the 1970s, due to increased agricultural expansion, the country expanded its dependence on ground water for irrigation. In the 1980s, Yemen began producing oil, quickly developing a cash economy. As a conservative nation with traditional values and culture, the quick cash economy intensified the demand for Yemen’s popular recreational narcotic, qat. Qat is a narcotic plant that is administered by chewing leaves. Moreover, qat is a highly-water intensive plant requiring increased use of irrigation water. According to Haidera et al. (2011), Yemen’s per capita water availability was estimated at 1100 cubic meters per person over 50 years ago. The sporadic changes in the last century have seen this number reduce to 460 cubic meters per person by the 1990s. These changes in the past century have placed Yemen in a water crisis due to shortage of water resources. Today, Yemen is experiencing water stress, which means that water availability threatens a serious limitation to human activity. The World Bank estimated that the current per capita water availability is below 120 cubic meters in Yemen and is drastically reducing (Giesecke, 2012). This is way below the internationally acknowledged water availability per capita of 1000 cubic meters per personal yearly. Yemen is located in a dry area that is prone to reduced rainfall as well as increased droughts. This means that there are reduced amounts of water resources. It is estimated that 70% of the country’s overall water supply is groundwater or water from underground aquifers. The other water resources are in terms of oasis as well as the temporary harvesting of rainfall water in dams especially near Yemen’s capital Sana’s, which does not last long due to high evaporation rates. To make the matters worse, over 90% of the groundwater is used in agriculture especially for producing qat (Haidera et al., 2011). The rest of the water is divided into domestic use and industrial functions. The rapid shortage of water resources in Yemen is attributed to numerous economic, social, environmental, and political factors. Firstly, Yemen is located in the Middle East making it part of the dry and harsh environmental conditions of the area. The reduced rainfall and increased drought has reduced the ability of groundwater resources to recharge. This has caused numerous groundwater resources to become depleted while each year the overall groundwater of Yemen reduces by about 2 cubic meters. Again, in economic terms, there has been a high demand for the use of qat as a recreational and traditional narcotic. Due to its increased demand over half of the irrigated land in Yemen is used for growing qat while 80% of groundwater is used to irrigate the qat (Weiss, 2015, p. 251). This has led to the increased depletion and shortage of water resources. In the social context, Yemen has witnessed a rapid growth in its population with about a 5.7% growth rate, which has led Yemen to become one of the worlds’ most growing populations (Giesecke, 2012). In the political context, Yemen has been characterized with historical instability and civil war. Currently, the ongoing civil war has led to lack of governance, policies, regulations, and enforcement increasingly putting water resources at the heart of the conflict. Overall, these are the main factors contributing to the shortage of water resources in Yemen. To develop possible solutions for the water issues facing Yemen, it is important to apply social science concepts and theories in understanding the case of Yemen. This is because the manner in which the Yemen issue is understood influences the actions taken to resolve the issues. Moreover, social learning is correlated to environmental knowledge. The case of Yemen is a clear indication of the social science concept of “tragedy of the commons”. Tragedy of the Commons The tragedy of the commons was originally based on the concern of increasing human population and its effects on the environment. In 1968, Hardin argued that the rapid growth of the world population would in future overstrain the planet’s limited natural resources (Van Vugt, 2009). The tragedy of the commons as a concept argues that humans pursue their self-interests at the cost of the environment and natural resources. This means that it is difficult for manage natural or environmental resources collectively. It is argued that when natural resources are managed collectively, stakeholders or players will cooperate leading to everyone’s loss (Park, 2007). There is also no incentive for people to cooperate. This is because the concept of tragedy of commons assumes that humans are selfish by nature and will take any chance to pursue their own self-interest. The main driver of such acts is the open access to natural resources. Therefore, if no one owns a resources, everyone who has access to the resource will take or use as much as they can get or access (Park, 2007). Additionally, the collective concepts of natural resources assume that the insecure tenure causes resource degradation since people will not invest in the resources that they do not own. Therefore, it is recommended that natural resources be privately owned or publicly owned and regulated by the state or governments. In the case of Yemen, it is a clear case of tragedy of the commons. This is based on the tenure system of open access where resources are owned by all. Exploitation of resources is open to all since there no rules concerning access or the rules are not enforced. In Yemen, the previous prime minister of water approximated that about 99% of the water extracted from the ground was unlicensed by 2012 (Giesecke, 2012). In addition, over 800 drilling machines operate illegally in Yemen despite a population of about 25 million (Giesecke, 2012). In comparison, countries such as India have less than 100 drilling rigs despite a much higher population that Yemen. Due to political instability and weak governance as well as institutions, there have been no effective interventions to reduce the number of illegal wells or exploitation of water resources. In many cases, top leaders and government officials are highly involved in the illegal access of water. Again, as most of the water is used for irrigating qat, the qat farms are closely managed and operated by high ranking officials in the government and military. It is estimated that all tribal and governmental leaders own illegal wells for their individual needs. This illustrates a tragedy of the commons where the tenure is a “de facto” where the access of water resources is locally acknowledged and operates in practice despite not being recognized officially or legally by the government (Van Vugt, 2009). According to Van Vugt, (2009), this is the same reason for incorporating issues such as identify, institutions, and incentives to understanding the difference between individual and collective interests. Despite the access to groundwater even for the few well-off or powerful people, the same ideology of self-interest is still pursued. This is because people will not invest in and won’t be careful about resources that they do not own. In Yemen, the few that illegally access groundwater do little to ensure that the water is used effectively and efficiently. This is because they invest little in poor infrastructure leading to almost 60% of water losses from poor infrastructure and leakages from wells. Even in irrigation, ground water is used inefficiently where methods are traditional as well as lack of recycling water. Overall, this has led to increased degradation of the water resources due to the pursuit of personal self-interests illustrating a clear case of the tragedy of the commons. From the basis of this collective action concept, there are numerous solutions that seem apparent to resolving the issue of shortage of water resources in Yemen. As illustrated, it is difficult to manage resources effectively and efficiently as a collective group. This is because there ownership or tenure is open to all meaning that all people have a right to access the resources either legally or illegally. This is the main reason that resources should be state or privately owned to ensure that they are regulated and controlled to achieve common interests as opposed to individual goals. For Yemen, there is a clear need to restore political stability as well as governance. The government should empower its institutions to enhance enforcement of regulations especially in licensing groundwater access. Although, this may be a long-term solution based on the severity of political instability and humanitarian issues, it is better to form community-based tenures. This means that communities from different areas can be allocated parts where they can manage water resources based on well-laid boundaries. Moreover, there is need to offer increased incentives for water conservation efforts. This is meant to encourage people to practice more efficient ways of using water resources. For instance, farmers can get cash or tax incentives for using efficient irrigation methods such as drip irrigation rather than traditional inefficient irrigation systems. One of the main weaknesses of the concept of tragedy of the commons is the fact that it doesn’t not recognize that people can learn from past failure as well as observations (Park, 2007). This means that Yemenis can effectively learn from their failed approach to water resource management. Furthermore, there is still an opportunity to negotiate and collaborate where people can establish and settle on rules and regulations. They key recommendation is increased reforms from the government to community-based groups (Park, 2007). Nonetheless, there is still the challenge of interdependence and embeddedness where the Yemen society is interconnected in multifaceted ways including religious and cultural values/beliefs, social and relationship ties, and economic dependency. Overall, there is increased need to ensure effective and efficient management of natural resources. For Yemen, the first step is ensuring that their water resources are not open to access by reinforcing their institutions to establish, manage, and regulate as well as enforce rules, regulations, and access of the resources. Yemen requires the increased support of both international organizations and governments in ensuring that it does not run out of its water resources. Social Impact Assessment Social impact assessment is a major social science concept and method of understanding resolving environmental issues. According to Framks, (2012, p. 7) “Social impact assessment (SIA) is focused on how to identify, avoid, mitigate and enhance outcomes for communities and is most effective as an iterative process across the life cycle of developments”. The social impact assessment is a social way or methodology for assessing or predicting the social impacts and effects that development projects or activities pose to the community (Arce-Gomez et al., 2015). In addition, the social impact assessment is also used to resolve potential or current social impacts derived from development projects and activities. Social impact assessment traces its origins from the environmental impact assessment (EIA) that was originally developed to evaluate the effects of development projects and schemes on society before they are initiated. As such, social impact assessment is a set of process for evaluating, monitoring, and handling of the anticipated and unintentional social impacts in terms of both positive and negative (Vanclay, 2006). There is a key focus on social impact assessment on proposed projects or planned developments. However, social impact assessment can be used to evaluate, monitor, and manage unintended events or activities such as changes in population or the crisis in Yemen of shortage in water resources. The process of social impact assessment is conducted in numerous steps that include scoping and development of alternative, review, monitoring, and management strategies to reduce or prevent social impacts. The social impact assessment can be equally applied to the scenario in Yemen. The country is facing an increased and what has been argued as an inevitable shortage of water resources. The first step of the social impact assessment begins with scoping and preparation of alternatives. In this case, it involves identifying the stakeholders who have been affected by the increased shortage of water resources in Yemen. Vanclay (2006, p. 8), points out that a stakeholder can be described as “Any individual, group, or institution who has a vested interest in the natural resources of the project area and/or who potentially will be affected by project activities and have something to gain or lose if conditions change or stay the same.” In this case, there are numerous stakeholders involved in the Yemen water crisis. At the top is government officials and institutions. The Yemenis government was previously ousted leading to a new government that is under constant attack and resistance from the previous regime and its supporters into what has now been termed as a militia (Weiss, 2015). The current government is made up of politicians with vested interests in securing water resources in Yemen. Moreover, government institutions including the ministries of water, agriculture and irrigation, health, and social welfare have vested interests in enhancing the state of Yemen’s water shortages. The second category of stakeholders is in terms of the cultural and religious composition of the Yemenis society. Tribesmen have interests in the access and use of water resources in Yemen. This is because the country is shared among different tribes. Again, the ordinary Yemenis citizen is also a stakeholder based on their need to access water for livelihood support as well as economic gains. One of the marginalized groups of stakeholders is the refugees or immigrants. In the last decade, Yemen has witnessed an increased influx of refugees seeking asylum in the country especially from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Libya (Weiss, 2015). This means that these immigrants are also interested in accessing the crucial water resources available in Yemen. Lastly, there are numerous international institutions that have taken increased concern on the water resources. This includes corporate investing in the oil economy and the international non-profit organizations and other aid organizations such as the World Bank and the U.S Aid. This also includes the Arab Council that has increased interest in stabilizing and restoring governance in Yemen as part of reforming the Middle East. The second step in the social impact assessment process includes profiling and baseline evaluation of the communities and stakeholders involved. This step seeks to understand the limitations or strengths surrounding communities or stakeholders involved in the issue (Inter-organizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment, 1994). Yemen is one of the world’s poorest and driest countries. It is located in the Middle East, which is characterized by increased hot climates with reduced rainfall and high occurrence of long-term droughts. In terms of population, the country has witnessed rapid growth in the past few decades. It is estimated that the country’s current growth rate is about 5% per year (Giesecke, 2012). This means that the country is one of the largest growing places in terms of population. The rapid population increase is attributed to increased immigrants from North Africa that has reached beyond 2million in the past decade (Giesecke, 2012). This is a great challenge for the already scarce water resources since its further increasing the water stress. Additionally, the country is faced with increased conflict due to political instability. Governance is only applied as far as it can reach since most people in government have numerous vested interests that they pursue either legally or illegally. The political instability has resulted in a severely weakened foundation of government institutions. Yemenis government institutions only exists for the sake since they lack the resources, frameworks, and support to undertake their mandate in developing, implementing, and enforcing policies, rules, and regulations. The government structure is highly centralized with few decision makers. There are very limited interest groups and voluntary institutions that are linked to Yemen. Based on the country’s political instability, international allies and aids have pulled out of Yemen such as the U.S. However, the country still has links to interest groups such as the World Bank and voluntary organizations from Germany (Weiss, 2015). The Yemeni people have little to no trust in the government and its institutions both political and social. Economically, Yemen is dependent on oil drilling to sustain its economy. Moreover, growing of qat is also a key economic dependence based on its high demand in the country. Nonetheless, most of the Yemen citizens are economically disadvantage with no means of livelihood expect irrigation, trade, and reduced jobs availability. As such the country is characterized by increased poverty with people living in severe poverty. Most of the social and economic activities are only present in the urban areas specifically the capital of Sana’s. Sana’s is characterized by numerous stable institutions such as universities, health facilities, as well as public amenities. Nonetheless, the rest of the country is characterized by rural settlements based on tribes or clans (Weiss, 2015). All these issues are key causes of increased shortage of water resources and serve as the basis of identifying solutions further in the social impact assessment process. The anticipated impacts of the continued practices of Yemen people (over-exploitation of groundwater, use of nearly 90% of water for irrigating qat, and continued political instability) are likely to deplete all the water resources available in the country. Another impact is increased conflict as it is estimated that nearly 4000 lives are claimed yearly in conflict for water resources. Therefore, the continued practices and approaches of Yemen could turn the country from worse to the worst case possible. Based on history and the current situation it is possible to predict the numerous social impacts that can emanate from the continued over-use of water resources in Yemen. The main impact has been on the general Yemeni citizens. Yemenis people are forced to live with below 100 cubic meters of water annually, which is drastically below the recommended average of 1000 cubic meters per year. This has resulted in increased health and social crisis. Without enough water to cater for domestic uses, the development, spread, and management of health issues is a challenge. Moreover, the country has witnessed reduced sanitation due to the lack of adequate water. Since the country is located in a dry and hot climate area, the prevalence of health issues is high. Continued shortage of water resources has also placed an economic burden on the Yemen society since most individuals have to spend about 30% of their income to access water. Moreover, the lack of effective water distribution has resulted in the loss economic opportunities in terms of creating new employment opportunities in industrial development. In some parts of the country, the situation is severe that they can only access water only once per week while other are forced to queue for about 24 hours to access water. This has resulted in reduced economic activity with most of the economic activity in oil and qat farming being reserved for a few. The overuse of water resources has also resulted in increased conflict that is expected to escalate as the water crisis worsens. The most venerable group of people to these impacts is the immigrants who face increased hardships in accessing water resources. Based on the withdrawal of most international aids and allies, the state of immigrants is at increased risk of starvation, conflict, and health as well as economic challenges. Overall, there is an increased need to address these impacts to ensure the mitigation or prevention of such social consequences in the future. In line with the social impact assessment process, there is need to identify measures that can mitigate or prevent the social consequences of a development or unintended development or disaster events (Inter-organizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment, 1994). In this case, Yemen requires numerous measures to prevent the complete depletion and degradation of its water resources. Numerous propositions have been suggested in literature as well as through institutional programs. Giesecke, (2012), argues that the country should firstly ensure that irrigation is efficient to reduce the increased use of water in irrigation. Yemen’s irrigation systems are highly traditional leading to increased wastage of water. As a measure to reduce this loss, it is recommended that farmers adopt efficient irrigation systems such as drip irrigation. Moreover, to enable the reduction of water wastage and shortage there is need for reusing waste water through waste water treatment plants. Still, there is need to invest in efficient infrastructure including piping systems, dams, and water harvesting and storage facilities. Ward (2015), suggested the investment in desalination process as a solution that could minimize the water deficit gap and avoid complete depletion of current water resources. Desalination involves the process of removing salt water from sea water to make it safe for consumption and use. In the social context, there is an increased need to restore political stability and enhance governance implementation. Although there are no sign of an to the civil war in Yemen, international interventions could facilitate a stable government to take mandate and implement effective governance. The country should also focus on reinforcing its institutions to enable effective enforcement of regulations especially in licensing groundwater drilling as well as distribution and access. Economically, Yemen should reduce its dependence on qat as a main cash crop and focus on other foods such as wheat to enhance its overall well-being and reduce the usage of water for irrigating the water-intensive plant (Haidera et al., 2011). Moreover, the government should offer incentives for water conservation by firstly taking ownership or tenure of all water resources to encourage efficient and effective use of water resources. Based on the rapid growth of the population, Yemen should focus on reducing its rate of growth to about 2% as opposed to 5% to ensure those future generations do not suffer the possible social consequences. Another solution to the problem is developing community-based organizations and initiatives to manage and propose new interventions for water resources accessibility and usage. Overall; these are some of the major recommendations or solutions for resolving the social consequences caused by shortage of water resources in Yemen. Conclusion To sum up, shortage of water resources in Yemen can be defined as a conflict of individual and collective interests or basically as a case of the tragedy of the commons. Yemen has been characterized by the over-exploitation of its groundwater and renewable water resources. This is primarily the result of individual interests where over 90% of the water is used to irrigate qat. Moreover, through the social impact assessment process, it is clear that the current development and overuse of water resources has caused and is anticipated to cause severe social consequences. This ranges from the complete depletion of water resources to increased conflict. As such, it is recommended that Yemen adopt a holistic approach to resolving the water shortage issues. This begins with restoring political stability as well as governance. Again, the water resources should be reversed to enable the state exercise control over the resources. Overall, the water shortage in Yemen is a reality and its complete depletion may be inevitable. However, through the use social science concepts and methods, the country can easily averse an environmental disaster. References Arce-Gomez, A, Donovan, JD, & Bedggood, RE 2015, 'Social impact assessments: Developing a consolidated conceptual framework', Environmental Impact Assessment Review, vol. 50, pp. 85-94. Framks, D 2012, Social Impact Assessment of Resource Projects, Available at: http://im4dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/UWA_1698_Paper-02_Social-impact-assessment-of-resource-projects1.pdf [Accessed 10 June 2016]. Giesecke, C 2012, Yemen’s Water Crisis: Review of Background and Potential Solutions. Available at: http://www.yemenwater.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/pnadm060.pdf [Accessed 10 June 2016]. Haidera, M, Alhakimi, SA, Noaman, A, Al Kebsi, A, Noaman, A, Fencl, A, Dougherty, B, & Swartz, C 2011, 'Water scarcity and climate change adaptation for Yemen's vulnerable communities', Local Environment, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 473-488. Inter-organizational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment, 1994, Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment. Available at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/social_impact_guide.htm [Accessed 10 June 2016]. Park, C 2007, Tragedy of the Commons, Oxford University Press. Available from: 10.1093/acref/9780198609957.013.8348. [10 June 2016]. Van Vugt, M 2009, 'Averting the Tragedy of the Commons: Using Social Psychological Science to Protect the Environment', Current Directions in Psychological Science, no. 3, p. 169. Vanclay, F 2006, 'Principles for social impact assessment: A critical comparison between the international and US documents', Environmental Impact Assessment Review, vol. 26, pp. 3-14. Ward, C 2015, The Water Crisis in Yemen : Managing Extreme Water Scarcity in the Middle East, I.B.Tauris, London. Weiss, MI 2015, 'A perfect storm: the causes and consequences of severe water scarcity, institutional breakdown and conflict in Yemen', Water International, vol. 40, no. 2, p. 251. Read More

Today, Yemen is experiencing water stress, which means that water availability threatens a serious limitation to human activity. The World Bank estimated that the current per capita water availability is below 120 cubic meters in Yemen and is drastically reducing (Giesecke, 2012). This is way below the internationally acknowledged water availability per capita of 1000 cubic meters per personal yearly. Yemen is located in a dry area that is prone to reduced rainfall as well as increased droughts.

This means that there are reduced amounts of water resources. It is estimated that 70% of the country’s overall water supply is groundwater or water from underground aquifers. The other water resources are in terms of oasis as well as the temporary harvesting of rainfall water in dams especially near Yemen’s capital Sana’s, which does not last long due to high evaporation rates. To make the matters worse, over 90% of the groundwater is used in agriculture especially for producing qat (Haidera et al., 2011). The rest of the water is divided into domestic use and industrial functions.

The rapid shortage of water resources in Yemen is attributed to numerous economic, social, environmental, and political factors. Firstly, Yemen is located in the Middle East making it part of the dry and harsh environmental conditions of the area. The reduced rainfall and increased drought has reduced the ability of groundwater resources to recharge. This has caused numerous groundwater resources to become depleted while each year the overall groundwater of Yemen reduces by about 2 cubic meters.

Again, in economic terms, there has been a high demand for the use of qat as a recreational and traditional narcotic. Due to its increased demand over half of the irrigated land in Yemen is used for growing qat while 80% of groundwater is used to irrigate the qat (Weiss, 2015, p. 251). This has led to the increased depletion and shortage of water resources. In the social context, Yemen has witnessed a rapid growth in its population with about a 5.7% growth rate, which has led Yemen to become one of the worlds’ most growing populations (Giesecke, 2012).

In the political context, Yemen has been characterized with historical instability and civil war. Currently, the ongoing civil war has led to lack of governance, policies, regulations, and enforcement increasingly putting water resources at the heart of the conflict. Overall, these are the main factors contributing to the shortage of water resources in Yemen. To develop possible solutions for the water issues facing Yemen, it is important to apply social science concepts and theories in understanding the case of Yemen.

This is because the manner in which the Yemen issue is understood influences the actions taken to resolve the issues. Moreover, social learning is correlated to environmental knowledge. The case of Yemen is a clear indication of the social science concept of “tragedy of the commons”. Tragedy of the Commons The tragedy of the commons was originally based on the concern of increasing human population and its effects on the environment. In 1968, Hardin argued that the rapid growth of the world population would in future overstrain the planet’s limited natural resources (Van Vugt, 2009).

The tragedy of the commons as a concept argues that humans pursue their self-interests at the cost of the environment and natural resources. This means that it is difficult for manage natural or environmental resources collectively. It is argued that when natural resources are managed collectively, stakeholders or players will cooperate leading to everyone’s loss (Park, 2007). There is also no incentive for people to cooperate. This is because the concept of tragedy of commons assumes that humans are selfish by nature and will take any chance to pursue their own self-interest.

The main driver of such acts is the open access to natural resources. Therefore, if no one owns a resources, everyone who has access to the resource will take or use as much as they can get or access (Park, 2007).

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