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| Hadhramout Famine 1940s |
In the 1940s,
Hadhramout was hit by famine that caused thousands of deaths and forced thousands more to flee
Wadi Hadhramaut. Including
my late father and late maternal grandfather. It is that famine that has very much defined I be what I am today. And it is that famine, mainly, that created the large Hadhrami immigrants in
Saudi Arabia,
Indonesia,
India,
Malaysia,
Eastern Africa and many other places. Between 1943 and 1944, the famine had reached its worst and deadliest point. It was exacerbated and the result of a combination of factors. First, from 1940 to 1944 - there was no rainfall and crops successively failed due to this and plant diseases. Due to the crops failing and the resulting lack of fodder to feed animals - many camels (which were the main means of transport) died; which in turn disrupted transport and the distribution of food. Second, due to the then ongoing World War II which disrupted shipping (which was the main source of getting food grains to Hadhramaut) - the import of food grain from India declined; India, too, had been affected by the war and had stopped exporting food to Southern Arabia. Third, remittances from Hadharem in Singapore, Indonesia (where most remittances were coming from) and the other so called East Indies - had virtually stopped due to these regions being occupied by the Japanese; and due to the effects of the war. Due to the war and the occupation, too, wealthy Hadhramis in these regions could no longer employ their fellow Hadharem - and these further affected the sending of remittances to Hadhramawt. Note: remittances funded a large part of agricultural activities in Wadi Hadhramawt. With all these three factors hitting at the same time, agricultural output in the Wadi (South Arabia's main 'food basket' during those times) collapsed. Here are some photos of the famine during that period:
