By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2024-03-04

ADEN -- As the holy month of Ramadan draws near, Yemenis are facing higher prices for food and other goods as a result of the Iran-backed Houthis' attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and adjacent waterways.

The Red Sea crisis has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation in Yemen, where 80% of the population is facing poverty after nine years of war.

As Ramadan approaches, many in Yemen, including government employee Ahmed Ghaleb, are preoccupied with the need to put food on the table.

The father of four told Al-Fassel he has had to work intermittently in the private sector as public sector salaries have not been paid since September 2016.

Ghaleb said his preparation for the holy month consists of "buying dates," which is the only luxury his family can afford after covering their basic food needs -- flour, sugar, rice and cooking oil -- and paying their rent.

Sanaa broker Abdul Ghani Musleh told Al-Fassel the surge in prices "added a new burden on Yemenis, who, after nine years of war, have lost their ability to cope."

The Red Sea attacks have created an additional burden, he said, noting that the full extent of the impact of these attacks on Yemen is not yet known.

He said the pace of work "decreased by 80% in recent years, which forced us to sell women's gold to meet basic food needs and pay for children's schooling."

This year, Musleh's family will not get to enjoy "the festive manifestations of preparing for Ramadan and buying the month's needs, including sweets, nuts and the ingredients of some of the special Ramadan dishes," he lamented.

Embroidery worker Jamila Mohammed, who was displaced from Taez three years ago after her husband was killed, said the distribution of the food baskets she used to receive every two to three months has been suspended.

This has upset her calculations in managing her family's needs for the month of Ramadan, she said, adding that she is fully preoccupied with securing "the necessary sustenance."

Ramadan aid lacking

Al-Mowasah Women's Development Foundation in Sanaa has not received sufficient charitable donations or community support this year to implement its Ramadan program, a member of the foundation told Al-Fassel.

The foundation distributes food aid to the poorest and neediest.

In recent years, during Ramadan, the foundation provided 500 families with food baskets that included "5kg of rice and sugar, five liters of cooking oil, and a box of dates, with a carton of pasta and sauce sometimes added to it," she said.

The foundation is looking for support for this Ramadan, "but so far it has not found any," she added.

Per an International Rescue Committee (IRC) report published in December, 80% of Yemenis live below the poverty line, and 23% of families have no income because of the collapse of the economy.

There are high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition, amid a decline in donor support.

"The Red Sea attacks led to an increase in food prices as a result of the decrease in food imports reaching Yemen," economist Abdul Aziz Thabet told Al-Fassel.

Impact of Red Sea crisis

The threat to shipping led to an increase in insurance premiums for ships and a spike in the cost of transportation, Thabet said, and these increases affected the prices of basic foodstuffs because of a drop in supply and increase in demand.

During the month of Ramadan, in which consumption is highest, this will be particularly noticeable, he said.

Thabet noted that annual inflation has exceeded 50% as a consequence of nine years of war, while the Red Sea attacks led to an increase in prices and further rise in inflation due to growing demand.

Unemployment has risen to 50% of the population, and the Red Sea incidents are causing an imbalance in Yemen's imports and exports, which affects the state's hard currency revenues, economist Fares al-Najjar told Al-Fassel.

During Ramadan, he said, demand for foreign currency increases and the volume of imports by Yemen rises to cover the needs of this month.

"The crisis caused by the Houthis in the Red Sea will adversely affect imports, the size of commodity stockpiles and supply of goods," al-Najjar said.

The rise in shipping and insurance costs leads to higher prices, "and this exacerbates the suffering of Yemenis in the holy month of Ramadan," he added.