Yemen Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (September 2018)

INTRODUCTION

The Yemen Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (JMMI) was launched by REACH in collaboration with the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster and the Cash and Market Working Group (CMWG) to support humanitarian actors with the objective of harmonizing price monitoring among all cash actors in Yemen. The JMMI incorporates information on market systems including price levels and supply chains. The basket of goods to be assessed comprises eight non-food items (NFIs), including fuel, water and hygiene products, reflecting the programmatic areas of the WASH Cluster.

METHODOLOGY

Data collection for the seventh round of the JMMI took place between the 21 – 27 September 2018. Enumerators from 12 partner organisations collected data in 50 districts across 14 governorates, through Key Informant (KI) interviews. The sample of vendors was selected by the organisations from markets of various sizes in both urban and rural areas. The data collected has been analysed in comparison with the price quotations recorded during the Multi-Agency Joint Cash Study in September 2017 and previous Weekly Price Monitoring Initiative, which began during the economic blockade of Yemen in November 2017. Findings of this analysis are presented in the form of both this factsheet and a supplementary dataset, published on a monthly basis.

KEY FINDINGS PRICE MONITORING OVERVIEW

• Between August and September, the value of the Yemeni Riyal (YER) continued to depreciate against the US Dollar (USD). At the time of data collection the exchange rate in the parallel market was 670 YER per USD, an increase of 12% when compared to August.

• Median price levels for fuel commodities increased between August and September. Fuel and water trucking prices had the greatest increase: 44.38% and 58.13% for diesel and petrol respectively, while water trucking prices increased by 41.67%, as water trucking prices are largely dependent on fuel prices.

• Median price levels of other commodities also increased compared to last month with, among others, an increase of 25% for sanitary napkins, and of 21.74% for bottled water.

• The aggregated median WASH Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) cost is 11,563 YER.
SUPPLY OVERVIEW • Fuel prices were higher in districts supplied by the governorate of Al Hudaydah than by districts supplied by Aden. The highest prices were found in districts located in governorates of Hajjah,
Amanat al Asimah and Sana’a, with prices up to 1,000 YER.

• The median of restocking time reported by fuel vendors at national level was five days.

• Price inflation and transportation issues remain the challenges most frequently cited by vendors. Shortage of fuel was increasingly highlighted as a main challenge.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-joint-market-monitoring-initiative-september-2018