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Réalisé en partenariat avec le Centre Yéménite de Ressources Génétiques, ce numéro des ‘Cahiers du CEFAS’, qui fait suite à deux précédents ‘Cahiers du CFEY’, réunit une sélection de 19 articles issus du séminaire Place des pratiques et des techniques anciennes dans l’agriculture yéménite d’aujourd’hui : problèmes et perspectives, qui s’était tenu en juin 2000 à la Faculté d’Agriculture de Sanaa et dans les locaux du CEFAS. Plus de trente anthropologues, archéologues, géographes, historiens, agronomes et spécialistes du développement, étrangers et yéménites, ont pris la parole au cours de ces journées de rencontres et d’échanges.Loin d’un regard nostalgique sur l’image d’une agriculture yéménite immuable qui aurait échappé à toute modernisation ‘néfaste’ de ses pratiques et de ses techniques, et bien loin d’un débat remettant en question des avancées technologiques ‘excessives’ et leurs éventuels effets sur l’environnement et la qualité de l’alimentation, il fut davantage question ici de réfléchir aux interventions en matière de développement dans un pays principalement d’économie rurale et pour lequel toute politique de développement doit s’appuyer en priorité sur le travail de sa population paysanne. This third publication of ‘Cahiers du CEFAS’ –previously named ‘Cahiers du CFEY’- results from a partnership with the Yemeni Genetic Resources Center (YGRC) and consists of 19 articles selected from the seminar The place of ancient agricultural practices and techniques in Yemen today : problems and perspectives, held in June 2000, at the Faculty of Agriculture of Sanaa University and in the CEFAS. More than 30 anthropologists, archaeologists, geographers, historians, agronomists and development specialists, from Yemen and abroad, participated in the meetings. Far from being a nostalgic point of view on a potentially ‘unchanging’ Yemeni agriculture, protected from any ‘harmful’ modernisation of its practices and techniques, and at the same time, far from discrediting ‘excessive’ technological improvements and their effects on environment or food quality, this seminar was clearly dedicated to sharing ideas related to development operations in this mainly rural country, where any development policy has to, in all cases, rely upon farmers’ labour.

Réalisé en partenariat avec le Centre Yéménite de Ressources Génétiques, ce numéro des ‘Cahiers du CEFAS’, qui fait suite à deux précédents ‘Cahiers du CFEY’, réunit une sélection de 19 articles issus du séminaire Place des pratiques et des techniques anciennes dans l’agriculture yéménite d’aujourd’hui : problèmes et perspectives. Cette manifestation qui s’était tenue en juin 2000 à la Faculté d’Agriculture de Sanaa et dans les locaux du CEFAS, fut organisée par l’Université de Sanaa, le Mini...

The traditional Gardens, "Maqashim", at the Old Sana'a City were adopted by UNESCO in 1986 as a World Heritage. They have been planted using ablution water (greywater) discharged from mosques since 1527. The planted traditional crops are vegetables and fruits. These Maqashim used to be denoted by wealthy families for the benefit of the Mosques under the management of the Ministry of Awqaf (MoA) –Ministry of Endowment; and utilized by the poor people for cultivation in return for their services at the Mosques. Due to the groundwater depletion in the hand-dug wells, these Maqashim dried, and that threatened their sustainable water demand management; leading to the emergence of social and economic problems which the poor beneficiaries and their families had to encounter. This paper aims at disseminating the outcomes of a research, conducted by the Water and Environment Centre (WEC) and supported by the Water Demand Initiative in the MENA countries (WaDImena) through International Development Research Centre IDRC; on the situation of these Maqashim at Sana'a's Old City to promote traditional knowledge and propose steps to revive them. The multidisciplinary team adopted a research methodology which included two phases; the first phase was discussion using Participatory Approach (PRA) followed by field personal interviews using designed questionnaires. The second phase was divided into four components; the first component was producing supplemental safe greywater from the surrounded houses and treated by greywater treatment systems. The second component is investigating the effect of the new pavements slope of the Old Sana'a’s streets vs. the traditional ones in directing the storm water to Maqashim. Moreover, the effects of paving Wadi Sailah on the drawdown of water level in the hand-dug wells at Old Sana'a where water level of four hand-dug wells had also been investigated. The third component focused on the selection of traditional most economic traditional crops and applying them in the intervention area of the selected Meqshamah (named Al-Washali) as part of the greywater system. The fourth component focused on linking Al-Qashameen (the farmers) to a legal framework to maintain the Maqashim of the Old Sana'a. The first phase resulted in producing a map of the Old Sana'a city with the 45 Maqashim. Furthermore, a comparison was conducted while focusing on five Maqashim in order to select the suitable one to implement the pilot greywater system in. In the second phase, four main outcomes were achieved: the first outcome was developing the greywater system; the second outcome was the re-paving of the Old Sana'a's internal streets using the traditional ways; the third outcome was the documentation of traditional crops by focusing on economic crops and applying them in the greywater system; and the fourth outcome was the formation of the General Association for the sake of maintaining the Old Sana'a's Maqashim. This paper recommends a documentation of the Maqashim lands, formally between the MoA and the farmers, as a step to maintain and revive these lands through the integrated ablution and greywater from the surrounding houses as a complementary source. It also recommends dissemination and application of the system in the Yemeni urban cities, while providing financial support to those houses for the greywater separation process. This paper also suggests a code to enforce: separation of the greywater from the black water in the internal networks of buildings in order to facilitate the use of greywater; re-paving the internal streets according to the traditional ways; drilling points along the Wadi Sailah to allow rainwater to recharge the Maqashim and shallow wells; documentation of economic crops to be planted at the Maqashim; and supporting the formed Farmers Associations to help in the follow-up process of reviving the Maqashim.

This third publication of ‘Cahiers du CEFAS’ –previously named ‘Cahiers du CFEY’- results from a partnership with the Yemeni Genetic Resources Center (YGRC) and consists of 19 articles selected from the seminar The place of ancient agricultural practices and techniques in Yemen today: Problems and perspectives. This event was held in June 2000, at the Faculty of Agriculture of Sanaa University and in the CEFAS. It was organised by the University of Sanaa, the Yemeni Ministry of Agriculture an...