A Yemeni farmer locks the door of a goat pen in the Midi District of Hajjah Province, northern Yemen, July 3, 2022. In Midi, a coastal district in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajjah, local sheep or cattle farmers are preparing for the upcoming Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice.(Photo: Xinhua)
A Yemeni farmer grazes a flock of goats in the Midi District of Hajjah Province, northern Yemen, July 3, 2022. In Midi, a coastal district in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajjah, local sheep or cattle farmers are preparing for the upcoming Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice. (Photo: Xinhua)
A Yemeni farmer holds a goat in his arms in the Midi District of Hajjah Province, northern Yemen, July 3, 2022. In Midi, a coastal district in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajjah, local sheep or cattle farmers are preparing for the upcoming Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice.(Photo: Xinhua)
A Yemeni farmer grazes a flock of goats in the Midi District of Hajjah Province, northern Yemen, July 3, 2022. In Midi, a coastal district in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajjah, local sheep or cattle farmers are preparing for the upcoming Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice.(Photo: Xinhua)
In Midi, a coastal district in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajjah, local sheep or cattle farmers are preparing for the upcoming Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice.
After months of feeding, shepherding, and taking care of their livestock, the farmers discovered that selling their herds was the biggest challenge in the war-ravaged country.
"Our primary source of income during this season is selling the animals. But there aren't many buyers here because of the war. This is a tragedy for us," livestock breeder Abdo Youssef said, adding that civilians are the ones bearing the brunt of the country's protracted war.
For Yemenis, securing a feast on Eid al-Adha is getting increasingly difficult, if not impossible, given that the majority of the people are living in deep poverty and are only a few steps away from famine.
Fayed Ali, another farmer in Midi, said he had to sell some of his livestock at lower prices this week because he needed the money to feed his family.
"I raised livestock for more than a year and a half, but I had to sell some of them for half the price, or even less, to buy food, medicine, and clothes for my family. I also need to pay off my accumulated debts for months," said Ali.
In Midi, one sheep or goat is sold between 170,000 to 200,000 Yemeni riyals (around 170 to 200 U.S. dollars), which is quite expensive given the annual per capita income in Yemeni is about 2,100 U.S. dollars.
The livestock farmers, who already have to deal with soaring prices of fodders and a severe fuel shortage, are under additional strains as a result of the shrinking demand brought on by widespread poverty.
Moreover, the civil war and the chaos and division it causes have made it difficult for livestock or grain to circulate in the poor Arab country.
"This war stops us from going to the markets in the other cities to sell our livestock. It makes us poorer and deepens our sufferings," Ahmed Saghir, a farmer who owns over 200 sheep and goats, told Xinhua at his farm in Midi.
Yemen's civil war erupted in late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.
The war has devastated the country's economy, killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced 4 million people, resulting in what the United Nations has said is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
Ahmed Othman, who owns more than 300 goats and sheep, hopes that the ongoing UN-brokered truce between the government and the Houthi group would pave the way for permanent peace.
"I hope that the truce could put an end to more than eight years of war, clear the roads between the cities and remove landmines. This is the only way to end our tragedy," he said.
