Yemen. Photo by Ed Ou/Getty Images
With a largely impoverished population that could double in 20 years, the last thing Yemen needs is for wells to run dry.
Yet, CNN reports that within the next few years Yemen could be the first country to completely run out of water. As TIME's Krista Mahr reports over at Ecocentric, a large contributing factor to Yemen's dilemma is the farming of qat crops, that require a lot of water to grow, but offer farmers a salable crop.
(More on TIME.com: See pictures from the drought in China)
While Yemen's government has taken some steps to try and address the situation, activists are critical that they aren't doing enough--or worse, that their actions are working against the rural areas of the country.