War-weary Yemenis cut down trees for fuel, cash amid ruined economy
Donors have pledged nearly $1.2 billion to help the United Nations deliver aid this year to an estimated 21.6 million people going hungry in Yemen
In southern Yemen, years of conflict and soaring prices left people desperate for fuel and income, forcing many to turn to an otherwise last resort.
On the outskirts of Taez, the sound of electric saws rips through a lush mountain landscape. “We started cutting trees and selling them because we have no other way of making a living,” said Hussein Abdulqawi.
He and other workers carry freshly-cut wood into the back of their vans near the southwestern city, which is besieged by rebels but still under government control.
A more than eight-year-long war between Saudi-backed government forces and pro-Iran Houthi rebels has ruined Yemen – the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine over a year ago, rises in global food and fuel prices have piled on further suffering.
Abdulqawi acknowledged he was contributing to an environmental "catastrophe,” but said he lacked options in a nation where many cannot afford fuel for heating and cooking.
"We have no choice" but to sell the wood, just as people "have no choice but to buy" it, he told AFP.
Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year to prop up the internationally-recognized government. Since then, the war has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths both directly and indirectly, and pushed the nation to the brink of famine.
On Monday, donors pledged nearly $1.2 billion to help the United Nations deliver aid this year to an estimated 21.6 million people going hungry there – two-thirds of Yemen’s population.