Book Launch 4 June 2015

Title: The Water Crisis in Yemen: Managing Extreme Water Scarcity in the Middle East

Speaker: Mr Christopher Ward (University of Exeter)

Chair: Dr Michael Willis  (St Antony's College)

See poster here

See photos from the event here

Read about the speaker here

Listen to the podcast here
See the PowerPoint presentation here

The Water Crisis in Yemen provides the first comprehensive study of the water management crisis in one of the most water-short countries in the world where groundwater is being extracted at such a rate that parts of the rural economy could disappear within a generation. Based on extensive field and documentary research and practical experience in Yemen over the last fifteen years, the book was written whilst Chris was Honorary Research Fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at Exeter. The book looks at all aspects of the crisis - institutional, environmental, technical, political economy – and asks what must Yemenis do to ensure that clean water is available for all, and that the agricultural economy can provide a decent living for the increasingly poor rural population?  The presentation at the book launch will ask – how to manage water for the benefit of the people when the government is extraordinarily ineffective?  The solution that will be discussed is an attractive one – that Yemenis can revive their traditions of local cooperation over the management of natural resources.