Reference Date: 01-April-2025

Planting of 2025 cereals started under dry weather conditions

Prolonged dry weather conditions from December 2024 and February 2025, reduced soil moisture and groundwater posing challenges for sorghum planting that began in March 2025 and potentially impacting early crop establishment. Predictions of dry weather and high temperatures between April and June are anticipated to further decrease soil moisture and reduce yield prospects. Additionally, rising fuel and input costs may constrain agricultural activities and hamper local cereal output.

Below‑average cereal production estimated in 2024

Cereal harvest in 2024, which was completed in late November, is estimated at 416 000 tonnes, about 13 percent below the average reflecting dry weather conditions in May and June 2024 in key crop‑producing governorates, coupled with heavy floods in August and September, which damaged agricultural land, irrigation channels and water storage facilities. Additionally, high prices limited farmers’ access to essential inputs, including fuel and pesticides.

Cereal imports expected at near‑average levels in 2024/25

Wheat import requirements in the 2024/25 marketing year (July/June), which are the largest share of total cereal imports, are projected at a near‑average level of 3.8 million tonnes. However, internal conflicts, economic downturn and limited foreign currency availability, due to subdued oil export activities, raise challenges for the country to import cereals in 2025.

Economic downturn and food inflation hamper food security in 2025

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) , about 19.5 million people are projected to need humanitarian assistance in 2025, including 17.1 million (almost half of the population) facing acute food insecurity.

In the Internationally Recognized Government of Yemen (IRG), the monthly average exchange rate hit a new record high of YER 2 300 (USD 1) in February 2025, marking a 28 percent depreciation compared to February 2024, due to low inflows of remittances, a decline in oil exports and low levels of foreign currency reserves. The low currency rate coupled with high fuel and global food prices, increased significantly domestic key food commodity prices in February 2025 compared to the previous year, with prices of sunflower oil, red beans and wheat flour increasing by 36 percent, 29 percent and 26 percent, respectively. The economic decline and the high food prices are likely to weaken households’ purchasing power and limit their access to essential food commodities, and worsen food security conditions.

Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

This brief was prepared using the following data/tools:
FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance Sheet (CCBS) https://www.fao.org/giews/data-tools/en/ .

FAO/GIEWS Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Tool https://fpma.fao.org/ .

FAO/GIEWS Earth Observation for Crop Monitoring https://www.fao.org/giews/earthobservation/ .

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) https://www.ipcinfo.org/ .