The Yemeni Entrepreneur “Amat Al-Latif Yahya”
A Yemeni entrepreneur, Amat Al-Latif Yahya, transformed the rooftop of her urban home into a beehive.
In the heart of Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, where homes are crowded and green spaces are few, groups of beehives find a place to thrive on the rooftop of young Yemeni woman Amat Al-Latif Yahya’s home, as if they were in a lush rural area.
The story began in 2020 when Amat Al-Latif, a graduate of the Food Science and Technology department at Sana’a University’s College of Agriculture, decided to turn her academic interest and passion for beekeeping into a real business. This led to her project, “Nuna and Nahoulah” (Little Bee).
Despite the challenges she faced at the start—both environmental (as bees require a fertile and spacious environment to reproduce and produce honey) and social (as beekeeping in Yemen is traditionally a male-dominated profession)—Amat Al-Latif overcame these difficulties with her scientific expertise and the encouragement of her family and friends, ensuring the success of her project.
The entrepreneur points out that her beekeeping project started with two small hives, and today she has 12. However, the honey production on the rooftop is very limited and mostly for personal use. She relies on seasonal honey and markets honey from other beekeepers whose product quality she trusts.
Challenges of Climate Change
The project’s development would have been more significant were it not for a number of challenges. Part of the problem is the city’s infertile environment, which forces her to move the beehives to rural areas during certain seasons. Another aspect is the impact of climate change, which has led to less rainfall and changes in seasons. This has affected her project and all beekeepers across Yemen.
Amat Al-Latif also highlights another problem that harms beekeeping and contributes to the decline of Yemeni honey: the reduction of suitable pastures for bees due to illegal logging and urban sprawl encroaching on protected areas and farms.
The young entrepreneur calls on the relevant authorities to address the issue by issuing regulations and laws that prevent indiscriminate logging and encourage the development of Yemen’s honey sector to make it a key economic resource for the country.
A Message and a Wish
The Yemeni beekeeper sends a message to all Yemeni girls and young people, urging them to invest in agriculture and green initiatives. She expresses a wish to have a large plot of land in a Yemeni rural area, where she could invest in multiple aspects of modern farming and animal husbandry.
Sources: Al-Yemeni Al-Ameriki Newspaper + NFESD Media
