Aid agencies and international NGOs warn that almost half of Yemen does not have enough to eat, including about 267.000 children who face severe levels of malnutrition. During the Arab revolts, the Yemenis eventually ousted their dictator – Ali Abdullah Salah, but his specter looms large and Yemen remains the poorest Arab country. The economic crisis is catastrophic: 50% economic contraction, plus 23% inflation.
“There is food in the markets, but there is not enough money in people’s pockets,” claims Juan Herrero. In a country of extreme poverty and political corruption, Yemen has not gone through a democratic transition and is struggling with the aftermath of more than three decades of dictatorship. Although humanitarian aid is being sent to the Bayt al-Faqih district in western Yemen, monitoring the food crisis and distributing rations to the most impoverished families is far from being over.
Juan Herrero (b. 1984, Spain) started covering development projects in Cuba and Indonesia, while also contributing to Cordon Press agency. In the summer of 2012, he relocated to Sanaa, Yemen, where he photographed daily life and the ongoing hunger crisis in the west of the country that almost erupted in civil war. He has published in Paris Match and Der Spiegel, among others. To view more of his work, visit: www.juanjoherrero.com http://www.juanjoherrero.com
