ust about everything in Yemen is dramatic. From the medieval appearance of Sana'a, through the system of tribal law and customs, to the dramatic landscapes of the cultivated mountain terraces.
        At first sight, it may seem a country of limited natural resources--although startlingly attractive to the visiting tourist--but the Republic of Yemen has the potential to counteract the increasing drift to the cities that has contributed to the degradation of its more marginal arable land.
       This degradation is evident in the deterioration and abandonment of many of the man-made mountain terraces that actually account for about 25% of the country's arable land. Walls have been allowed to fall into disrepair and collapse, permitting soil erosion, and limiting the ability of the terraces to harness moisture for crops or fruit trees. Fewer people are employed on the land when these uneconomic terraces are abandoned. The remaining cultivable land comes under even greater pressure because of the steadily increasing size of the average Yemeni family. No wonder then that the upcoming generation looks instead to the urban areas for higher earnings, even if that doesn't always mean a steady income.
       This urban population is increasing at the rate of 6.7% annually, and the country's current total population estimated at 17 million is expected to double to around 35 million by 2025. The rapid growth in the urban population spurred on by rural poverty is putting enormous pressure on urban resources and increasing urban poverty.
        Only about one-third of Yemen is agricultural land, and only 9% of that land is suitable for growing crops. The rest can be loosely described as permanent pasture but that covers everything from a limited amount of good grazing land through to the commoner rock-strewn mountainside and degraded rangeland. Rainfed agriculture in the mountainous areas was developed centuries ago based on intricate systems of man-made terraces. This is difficult terrain, with steep slopes, terraced croplands, rangelands and patches of trees.
        It shouldn't be surprising then that food production is being stepped up in those less hilly and more accessible areas of land on plains between the mountain ranges and along the banks of wadis where irrigation is possible. But there are threats away from the mountain slopes too. Spate floods can destroy crops and carry away soil, while desert sands are responsible for significant encroachment at the geographical margins. This is coinciding with population explosion. Yemeni government figures show the proportion of arable land per head of population fell from 0.16 ha in 1979/81 to 0.09 ha per person in 1994/96. During the same period, the proportion of land under irrigation rose from about 10% to more than 30%.
        Yemen's arable land is limited--about 1.66 million ha, of which just 64% was cultivated in 1996. Man-made terraces are a feature found in several countries in West Asia and North Africa. They have been established in mountainous parts of Lebanon, Syria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia. Farmers in both Ethiopia and Eritrea have also cultivated terraced areas for centuries but it is in Yemen that the technique has traditionally played a substantial role in producing crops ranging from wheat, barley, sorghum and millet to coffee and qat - the age-old stimulant chewed by many Yemenis.
         It should not be overlooked that many of Yemen's terraces are still highly productive but they are in the main those on the lower slopes with deeper soil and higher rainfall which permit farmers to grow moisture-hungry crops such as potatoes. Some of these rich terraces are in foothills where they can accommodate a tractor and plow for cultivation, while other productive terraces can be found in those mountains that benefit from high rainfall. These terraces are not at risk but rather it is those on slopes with lower annual rainfall and in less accessible valleys that are more vulnerable to the pressures of land ownership disputes, crumbling stone walls, soil erosion, and the ever-present uncertainty of market price fluctuations.
         Terrace erosion appears to be accelerating because of the failure to rebuild walls and maintain traditional systems of run-off diversion, collection and storage. Soil is being lost and the failure to contain water is adding to the destructive potential of the spate floods which seasonally affect the valley bottoms.
        All this combines to contribute to an ever-present background of rural poverty, the rise in urban migration and the destruction of local communities. The trends were so great that it became clear action was needed to improve the livelihoods of rural people and reverse the land degradation that lay behind many of the social changes.
        However, there are some aspects of Yemeni society which underline the potential that exists to remove the threat to these vulnerable terraces and prompt their restoration to productive agriculture. The relationship between man and the land is just as strong here as in other countries of the region. Even if their terraced land is completely run down and unproductive, few villagers want to give up the ownership of land that may have been in the hands of their families for many generations.

tricts, the proportion of state land is reported as being very low, perhaps because farmers are reluctant to acknowledge they may have appropriated some of that land for their own use.
         More often than not, poor maintenance of terraces is blamed on some breakdown of relationship between owner and farmer/sharecropper. Owner-occupied terraces are invariably better kept. In those areas where there is still a strong community influence playing a decisive role in disputes, it appears the relationships between tenants and landlords may be stronger but also flexible to meet changing circumstances such as the investment needed for cultivation of coffee and other high-value crops.
          Where the customary rules on the division of terrace maintenance between landowner and tenant break down, it is often because there is no written provision in the land tenure contract. These rules vary: in one district tenants may meet minor repairs themselves but split major flood or storm damage 50-50 with the landlord; in another area, the tenant may carry out all repairs but then be permitted to keep all of his harvests for the succeeding two to five years.
           A Yemeni judge told the research team that settling inheritance disputes was the most difficult problem for the legal system. Where there is no written or official record of ancient transactions, land disputes can stay in

the courts for generations. And, even when judgement is finally handed down, it can be difficult to enforce back in the mountains. A simpler, quicker property registration system would go a long way in dealing with this.
          Another limiting factor in terrace restoration is the non-availability of Government loans for rehabilitating the terraces. Labor sharing and collective community action has declined in these more modern times, and labor now has to be costed in terms of what is offered by alternatives available off the farm. Competing for this labor without access to credit is difficult for farmers. It is even worse for the poor who are most likely to have to devote much of their own limited family labor resources to collecting wood for fuel or fetching water.
           However, a program of terrace improvement would require quite substantial labor input, offering a steady incentive to remain in the villages. In general, agronomic practices should improve at the same time, creating demand for additional inputs such as fertilizer, and stimulating a seasonal demand for more labor to work in the restored terraces.

         Farmers also cite the presence of imported, subsidized grain as another disincentive for restoration of the terraces. They see little point in growing local alternatives such as wheat, sorghum, barley, millet or food legumes other than for their own consumption, when they cannot easily compete in the marketplace with imported foodstuffs. This has now  been partially addressed since the study took place by an increase in the official price of such wheat.
          The study recommends government action to strengthen existing local institutions, in documenting sharecropping contracts, in improved and targeted agricultural credit services, better pricing polices and improved technologies for farmers. These will increase expected returns on investment, particularly for food crops, and increase the willingness of landowners to invest in projects such as terrace maintenance.
          A project phase aimed at putting the study information and recommendations into practice is now being planned by AREA and ICARDA. This will involve farmers in developing and testing new methods of preventing soil erosion and retaining water where it is most needed on productive terraces.
       Yemen's terraces are justly famed throughout the world and undoubtedly one of the attractions which visiting tourists regard as a must-see. With help, there will be much less danger of them being shown a dusty, stricken patch of bare mountainside and asked merely to visualize the laden fruit trees, flourishing cereal crops, or vegetables. Instead, they could well be dining that night on top-class produce grown to a centuries-old blueprint which can still serve Yemen well into the 21st century.

Dr Aden Aw-Hassan is an Agricultural Economist in the Natural Resource Management Program at ICARDA. Mohammed Al-Sanabani is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Sana'a, and Abdul Rahman Bamatraf is Vice Minister of Agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Yemen.

Even if their income now comes predominantly from outside agriculture, most people are adamant that they retain their village roots and their attachment to land even if it is no longer cultivated. They do nurture the possibility that one day they, like their forefathers, will be able to make something of that land holding.
        Using funding from IDRC (International Development Research Centre) of Canada, ICARDA conducted an exploratory study in 1997/98 in the western escarpments of Yemen, in collaboration with the University of Sana'a and Yemen's Agricultural Research and Extension Authority (AREA). It collected the background information needed to start assessing how best to promote the rehabilitation of terrace farming.
         Most importantly, the study also casts light on the several reasons why the terraces no longer fulfil their traditional productive role. In those areas where the community feeling is still strong, ownership disputes can often be readily settled through the knowledge of the village elders. The exact arrangements will vary from community to community but there are very often locally-defined rules for apportioning terrace maintenance and cost sharing as well as income sharing between tenants and landowners.
        Apart from the mountain slope rangelands used communally, land holding in Yemen is split between private, state and religious endowments (waqf). However, agricultural land registration is weak--official registration covers only urban areas--although a trusted local (amin) keeps records of farmland transactions in many districts. About 70% of private land is cultivated by the owners, with the rest rented out under sharecropping arrangements, as is the state and waqf lands. In some dis-

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