Eddy De Pauw
The countries of North Africa and West Asia, hereafter referred to as the "Near East," cover a large part of the world (more than 7,200,000 km2). This region is characterized by diverse but generally dry climates, in which evaporation exceeds precipitation. The level of aridity is indicated by the aridity index, the ratio of annual precipitation to annual potential evapotranspiration, calculated by the Penman method (UNESCO, 1979). The degree of aridity is shown spatially in figure 16.1 and summarized per country in table 16.1. These data show that the region is characterized by humid, subhumid, semiarid, and arid to hyperarid moisture regimes. In addition, temperature regimes vary considerably, particularly due to the differences in altitudes and, to a lesser extent, due to the oceanic/continental influences. For most of the region, the precipitation generally occurs during the October-April period and thus is concentrated over the winter season.
Table 16.1 shows that, with more than 90% of the land area in hyperarid, arid, or semiarid moisture regimes, aridity is very significant in the Near East. Turkey is better endowed with surface and groundwater resources due to the orographic capture of Atlantic cyclonal precipitation, but much of the interior is semiarid. If one excludes the hyperarid zones, which cover the driest deserts and have no potential for agricultural use, nearly 34% of the region, or about 2,460,000 km2, is dryland (i.e., the area with arid or semiarid moisture regime). These are the areas with some potential for either dryland farming (in semiarid zones) or for extensive rangeland (in arid zones).
In the Near East countries, agriculture contributes about 10-20% to the gross domestic product and is therefore a major pillar of their economies. However, the indirect importance of agriculture is larger because it provides the primary goods that constitute the majority of merchandise exports and because of the relatively high number of people employed in agriculture (table 16.2).
- Figure 16.1 Aridity in North Africa and West Asia.
Because of the high degree of aridity in large parts of the region, agriculture in the Near East is particularly vulnerable to drought. Most of the agricultural systems depend on rainfall. Irrigation water is scarce, and although the area under irrigation is expanding, supply constraints are likely to increase. The reasons are limitations on the total size of the extractable water resources, consideration of environmental and socioeconomic impacts of large dam-building programs, continued population growth coupled with increasing urbanization, and competition among communities, industrial and service sectors, and agriculture for increasingly limited water resources. Irrigated agriculture currently consumes an average of about
Table 16.1 Climatic moisture regimes in North Africa and West Asia
|
% Hyper- |
% |
% Semi- |
% Sub- |
% |
% Per- | ||
|
Country/region |
arid |
Arid |
arid |
humid |
Humid |
humid |
Area (km2) |
|
Algeria |
71.7 |
15.9 |
8.6 |
3.8 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
2,381,741 |
|
Egypt |
91.5 |
8.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
997,739 |
|
Gaza Strip |
0.0 |
16.9 |
83.1 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
363 |
|
Iraq |
11.6 |
69.9 |
17.3 |
1.2 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
435,052 |
|
Israel |
2.6 |
55.3 |
34.7 |
7.4 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
20,700 |
|
Jordan |
23.5 |
69.8 |
6.7 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
88,946 |
|
Lebanon |
0.0 |
0.0 |
19.5 |
55.3 |
15.1 |
10.1 |
10,230 |
|
Libya |
80.9 |
17.6 |
1.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
1,757,000 |
|
Morocco |
0.0 |
41.8 |
55.5 |
2.7 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
458,730 |
|
Syria |
0.0 |
71.3 |
23.1 |
3.3 |
1.4 |
0.9 |
185,180 |
|
Tunisia |
14.4 |
52.3 |
30.3 |
3.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
164,150 |
|
Turkey |
0.0 |
0.0 |
29.6 |
48.7 |
18.5 |
3.2 |
779,452 |
|
West Bank |
0.0 |
20.4 |
74.4 |
5.2 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
5,900 |
|
% of total area |
56.8 |
21.4 |
12.4 |
6.9 |
2.0 |
0.4 |
7,285,183 |
Source: Computed from the GIS data archived at the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA).
Source: Computed from the GIS data archived at the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA).
Table 16.2 Agriculture in the Near East countries
Importance of Main crops agriculture (in order of importance, most important first)a
Table 16.2 Agriculture in the Near East countries
Importance of Main crops agriculture (in order of importance, most important first)a
|
Country |
% GDPb |
% Agricultural workersc |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
|
Algeria |
11 |
26.0 |
WHE |
POT |
BAR |
WAT |
CIT |
ONI |
OLI |
|
Egypc |
18 |
40.0 |
SUC |
WHE |
MAI |
CIT |
SUB |
POT |
WAT |
|
Iraq |
n.a. |
16.0 |
WHE |
BAR |
WAT |
CIT |
POT |
GRA |
MAI |
|
Israel |
n.a. |
4.1 |
CIT |
WAT |
POT |
WHE |
COT |
GRA |
ONI |
|
Jordan |
3 |
15.3 |
CIT |
POT |
OLI |
WAT |
WHE |
ONI |
BAR |
|
Lebanon |
12 |
7.3 |
CIT |
SUB |
POT |
GRA |
WAT |
OLI |
ONI |
|
Libya |
n.a. |
10.9 |
WAT |
POT |
OLI |
ONI |
WHE |
CIT |
BAR |
|
Morocco |
25 |
44.7 |
WHE |
SUB |
BAR |
CIT |
SUC |
POT |
OLI |
|
Syria |
n.a. |
33.2 |
WHE |
SUB |
COT |
BAR |
OLI |
GRA |
POT |
|
Tunisia |
13 |
28.1 |
WHE |
OLI |
BAR |
WAT |
POT |
SUB |
ONI |
|
Turkey |
15 |
53.1 |
WHE |
SUB |
BAR |
POT |
WAT |
GRA |
ONI |
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on-line FAOSTAT database (http://www.fao.org) and Word Resources Institute, Washington, DC (http://earthtrends.wri.org).
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on-line FAOSTAT database (http://www.fao.org) and Word Resources Institute, Washington, DC (http://earthtrends.wri.org).
aBAR: barley; CIT: citrus; COT: cotton; GRA: grape; MAI: maize; OLI: olive; ONI: onion; POT: potato; SUB: sugar beet; SUC: sugarcane; WAT: watermelon; WHE: wheat. Ranking based on production figures.
bPercentage contribution to GDP from agriculture.
cAgricultural workers as a percentage of the total labor force.
80% of all the water used in the Near East (Margat and Vallée, 1999). In summary, the livelihoods and food security of large population segments in the Near East depend directly or indirectly on weather conditions.
Post a comment