The myrrh tree that's key to luxury perfumes and African incomes is threatened by drought

AFCADDE, Ethiopia (AP) — The critical note in some of the world’s most well-known perfumes is myrrh, a tree resin from the Horn of Africa that is under pressure from what experts call a historic drought.

Threatened by the lack of water and nibbled by starving livestock, the trees that once formed a dense forest in the Somali region of Ethiopia are in danger, locals say.

Earlier this year, researchers supported by the American Herbal Products Association visited a source of the prized resin that makes its way to global markets from some of the most vulnerable places on earth.

The goal: To ensure that those who harvest the resin get more of the direct profits instead of middlemen along the opaque supply chain.

Ethiopia is a major source of myrrh, which has been used in beauty, health and religious practices since at least ancient Egypt. Traditional harvesting in the region has not changed, which helps to protect the trees and produces the highest quality resin.

Myrrh’s hand-harvested nature raises its price, but those doing the work see little of the profit. Collecting a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of the resin brings as little as $3.50 and as much as $10.

That’s far from the prices for the perfumes it helps to create, which are marketed by well-known fashion brands like Tom Ford, Comme des Garcons and Jo Malone and sold at prices as high as $500 a bottle.

Meanwhile, curiosity about myrrh’s other potential uses is growing with increased global interest in natural remedies.

For now, most myrrh from this part of eastern Ethiopia is purchased by traders from neighboring Somalia. Ethiopia collects no taxes on the goods.

Locals hope more visibility will help them as the climate crisis threatens their ways of life.

“They expressed hope that a direct market would enable them to secure better prices, ensuring sustainable livelihoods,” said Abdinasir Abdikadir Aweys, senior researcher with the Somali Regional Pastoral and Agro-Pastoral Research Institute and a member of the research team.

The researchers were led by Anjanette DeCarlo, an expert in sustainable supply chains and resins at the University of Vermont, and Stephen Johnson, resin expert and owner of FairSource Botanicals. They found that communities practice traditional harvesting by collecting resin from trees’ naturally occurring wounds instead of by making intentional cuts, which makes trees more vulnerable to pests and disease.

“Traditional practice is in balance and protects trees. It should be celebrated,” DeCarlo said.

But the drought worried the team. The annual rains have been failing over the past several years, interrupted in 2023 by devastating flooding.

The arid region has long seen droughts, but this one has been historic. Experts have blamed the changing climate.

Myrrh harvesting is threatened. While adult trees are generally healthy, they are producing less resin. And fewer young trees are surviving.

“Unfortunately, many seedlings are uprooted by children who graze their livestock nearby, and the animals often eat the buds of the young trees,” said a local elder, Mohamed Osman Miyir, adding: “We are deeply worried about the declining population of myrrh trees.”

Without proper rain, other young trees are likely to fail. DeCarlo worried that eventually even the adult trees will die.

Villagers’ days are spent hauling water for themselves and their livestock. Herders travel over the parched, cracked earth as far as 200 kilometers to Sanqotor village, which has a rare well with water.

“Guests water animals first, then the villagers,” said local headman Ali Mohamed, watching hundreds of livestock crowd around the well.

But not everyone has livestock to survive. The poorest residents rely solely on tree resin like myrrh for their survival.

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Dust engulfs a home and a tree that are barely visible amid a drought on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Sanqotor, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Myrrh researchers cross the Shebelle River with the help of boatmen that wade in the low levels instead of paddling as they make their way toward East Imi, Ethiopia, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Stephen Johnson gathers data on a large, healthy Commiphora myrrha tree, the source of myrrh, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026, in Sanqotor, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Sun shines on Commiphora myrrha trees with large thorns to protect itself against grazing livestock and wildlife Saturday Jan. 10, 2026, in Sanqotor, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Dahir Yousef Abdi, guide from the Somali Region Pastoral and Agro-pastoral Research Institute, demonstrates ink made from myrrh Friday Jan. 9, 2026, in Sanqotor, Ethiopia. Myrrh, in Islam tradition, is turned into a black ink used only for writing the Quran and symbolizes the connection between the word and the divine. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Yellow jerrycans, for hauling water, sit next to a bowl for washing up and a pile of khat leaves Friday Jan. 9, 2026, in Sanqotor, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Amid a drought, herders gather after traveling to a well to get water for their livestock Friday Jan. 9, 2026, in Sanqotor, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Myrrh burns in a traditional clay vessel in a home to ward off bugs, snakes and to fumigate it Friday Jan. 9, 2026, in Sanqotor, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Dust engulfs a home and tree barely visible made worse amid a drought on Friday Jan. 9, 2026, in Sanqotor, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Children seeking water bring their donkey cart to a well, dug into the bottom of what should be a lake, surrounded by thorny brush to prevent livestock from falling in Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Afcadde, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Amid a drought, a lake that should be full now, remains dry Thursday Jan. 8, 2026, outside Afcadde, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

An example of text from the Quran, written on a wooden tablet with myrrh ink, is displayed Thursday Jan. 8, 2026, in Sanqotor, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Women, who often help harvest myrrh, gather for a focus group to discuss it amid a drought Thursday Jan 8, 2026, in Afcadde, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Members of a research team hold pieces of naturally exudated resin from myrrh, locally called suhul, which is extremely high quality and fragrant, Thursday Jan. 8, 2026, in Afcadde, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Burning myrrh, which is done to deter bugs and snakes, mingles with cooking smoke in a dark roadside restaurant as a young woman walks by bottles of water and soda Thursday Jan. 8, 2026, in Afcadde, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

Stephen Johnson and Sam Osborn, bottom, measure a Commiphora myrrha tree during what is called ecological transects, measuring a quadrant, counting the number of trees, measuring their trunk, crowns, as well as health on Wednesday Jan. 7, 2026, in Dharaaye, Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Julianne Gauron)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance is headed to Pakistan for high-level talks with Iranian representatives for the first such meeting since the war began more than a month ago that will test whether they can shore up a fragile ceasefire and pave the way for peace.

The ceasefire brokered by Pakistan still faces hurdles in the talks beginning Saturday, as Israel and Hezbollah militants have traded fire along the border of southern Lebanon and Iran has set conditions before negotiations can begin.

The Iranian delegation arrived early Saturday in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who said on X that discussions will only take place if there is an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of blocked Iranian assets.

Hours earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump wished Vance good luck.

“We’ll find out what’s going on. They’re militarily defeated," Trump said.

The normally bustling streets of Islamabad were deserted Saturday morning as security forces sealed roads ahead of the talks. Pakistani authorities urged residents to stay inside, leading the city to look like it was under curfew.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Friday that the conflict was entering a “difficult phase” as the sides try to shift from a temporary pause in fighting to a more lasting settlement, adding that they were at a “make-or-break” moment.

Before his departure from Washington on Friday, Vance said he believed the negotiations with Iran will be “positive.”

But he added, “If they’re going to try and play us, then they’re going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.”

Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin Tuesday in the U.S. capital, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office said Friday. Beirut is keen to hold direct talks to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah, but under a ceasefire similar to the one with Iran.

Israel wants the Lebanese government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, much like was envisaged in a November 2024 ceasefire. But it is unclear whether Lebanon's army can establish a monopoly on arms or confiscate weapons from the militant group, which has resisted efforts to curb its strength for decades.

Israel’s insistence that the ceasefire in Iran does not include a pause in its fighting with Hezbollah has threatened to sink the deal. The militant group joined the war in support of its backer, Iran.

The day the truce was announced, Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, killing more than 300 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It was the deadliest day in the country since the war began Feb. 28.

Trump said Thursday he had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dial back the strikes.

Then on Friday, Israeli warplanes struck near a state security office in the southern town of Nabatieh, killing 13 officers, according to the Lebanese president’s office. Israeli forces said they also hit about 10 rocket launchers in Lebanon that had fired toward northern Israel.

Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices skyrocketing, driven stocks down and roiled the world economy. Tehran’s control over the waterway has proved its biggest strategic advantage in the war.

The spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was around $97 Friday, up more than 30% since the war started.

Before the conflict, over 100 ships passed through the strait each day, many carrying oil to Asia. With the ceasefire in place, only 12 have been recorded passing through.

Trump said Iran has little clout in the negotiations.

“The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways,” Trump posted Friday. “The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!”

Displaced families extend their hands while waiting for donated food beside the tents they use as shelters after fleeing Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A Lebanese civil defense worker, right, stands with a resident at the site of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Police officers take position in Islamabad, Pakistan, to ensure security ahead of possible negotiations between Iran and the United States, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Vice President JD Vance walks to speak with the Press before boarding Air Force Two, Friday, April 10, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., for expected departure to Pakistan, for talks on Iran. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, pool)

A police officer walks past a billboard regarding the United States and Iran negotiations, outside a media facilitation center in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)