Mango season is an annual income opportunity for poor families in Hodeidah

Hodeidah News – Arafat Makki

Thousands of families in the rural areas of Tehamah in Hodeidah are waiting each year for the mango season fruit harvest, which is widely cultivated in several areas including Bagel, Husseiniya and Alkadan, which starts in mid-January each year, provides a source of livelihood for many of them and considered as a main source of income.

Haj Ayesh Alkuromi and his three sons, like other people looking for work in Tehamah, they wake up early in the morning and walk out of the house to one of the mango farms close to their house. They are picking mangoes and packing them in baskets so that it can be sold in the city markets.

Haj Ayesh and his sons go among the seedlings of green mango trees, choose the fresh ones and pick them and put them inside the baskets.

“I have been working for more than ten years in mango farms and my children learned this work in order to get money in the harvest season. Mango has become a source of income for us, by working to harvest the crop then sell Mango in the markets “ says Haj Ayesh .

Haj Ayesh with his son in the farm in Tehammah district, Hodeidah governorate.

Hassan Abbas from Alkadan village, Aldhahi district in Hodeidah said to (Hodeidah News) that the harvest season of mango fruit is important for the residents because it providing job opportunities for young people to help their families.

Hassan, who sells mangoes in the city market, says that mango fruit is popular and It’s being sold out very quickly. “It is a delicious fruit and it has a sweet taste” Hassan added.

A mango tree in a farm  Alkadan village, Aldhahi district in Hodeidah 

Farmer Abdullah Dawood owns a mango farm, says that mango fruit is very popular and people accept to buy it without any hesitation.

Dawood pointed out that the mango has several types and names, and the prices of each type differ from another.

“We sell some kinds of mangoes up to 1000 riyals for one kg, and some of them up to 200 riyals for the kg, it depends on quality and taste,” said Dawood.

Many types of mango varieties are cultivated in Hodeidah, which occupies the second rank after the province of Hajjah in terms of the size of the area which planted with mango trees where are grown in Tihama many types, including what is known as the heart of the bull – butter – volcanic – Mozi – Sudanese and other varieties ….

Mango baskets in the market.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Hodeidah produces annually more than 200 thousand tons of mango and is sold in the local and markets and some exported to the regional markets, but the ongoing war in Yemen make the farmers pay the highest price, and make the farmers suffer from significant financial losses due to stop the exporting of mango abroad, which made them sell it in the local market at the cheapest prices.