Analysis of the food and agricultural situation of the Western Desert Baharyia :El Heiz

The Baharyia Oasis region, located in the Egyptian Western Desert, has a challenging

food situation. Being considered as one of the remote locations of Egypt, the supply and demand

analysis of the food products require special analysis of the population, the land, the water

supplies as well as the transportation system and markets.

To begin with, the region of the Baharyia Oases had been subject to neglect by the

Authorities during early-20th century due to the fact that it is a remote location and not

strategically important during that period. However, after the 6th of Octobers war, during the

1980s and 1990s, some projects were implemented in that region with the goal of creating

agricultural settlements in the region. Due to the government support, the agricultural surface of

the region had reached 108,067 acres by 2000. The rural population of the three Oases of the

New-Valley governorate had grown to about 200 000 around the year 2000. [1]

However, this agricultural development of the Baharyia Oases (and the other Oases as

well) was considered as a disappointment for the settlers. Those people who had dreamed of high

crop production, as well as high incomes and perfect job opportunities in the region were faced

with the challenges of both little performance, low productivity of the land and stagnant growth.

There are different reasons to explain the agricultural problems in the region:

Inefficient methods of irrigation in the region:

The Oases region, and for the specific example of El Heiz region, suffer from

incompetent methods of irrigation which lead to a lot of water waste in a region that

already suffer from water resources shrinkage. The main irrigation method that is

practiced by the farmers in EL Heiz is flood irrigation, which causes a lot of water waste.
 In this method, water flows by gravity through fields. The basin is contained in one side

which keeps the water in. The irrigation is performed each 7-15 weeks . This method is

very intensive in terms of water and needs a drainage system.[2]

Many irrigation canals are unlined (figure xxx) and due to the water evaporation that

occurs in this type of canals, there is a loss that might be estimated to 50 %. In many of

the different regions of El Heiz, there is a dysfunction in the water drainage system,

which in turn affects the land since it leads to desertification, sand and soil degradation as

well as problems in the water salinity content [1].

Figure 1 Unlined Water Irrigation Canals cause degradation of soil and water waste

Economic Challenges facing the food industry

The little economic investment in the agricultural section by the government led to a poor

agricultural production, which in turn led to low income for farmers who in turn

minimized their investments in the improvement of the productivity of their lands. This

led to a sort of closed cycle. The problems are aggravated by the fact that El Heiz is a
 remote location that also suffer from a lot of public services and lacks a lot of

development in many economic sectors. This led to a limitation on the access farmers of

El Heiz have to both local markets and national ones. Transportation to/from the fields

must be done using the farmers individual car. The distance from the Valley, and major

cities and the increased gasoline costs led to a reconsideration of the effectiveness of

agricultural activity sector by many farmers. Some locals have decided to buy the

agricultural lands (the specific example was related to orange production). Some of them

had changed their economic activity to that of iron ores workers in the nearby Oases

which offer better job opportunities. [1]

The main agricultural products of El Heiz region are watermelon (figure xxxx) and dates. These

products, although could be of important value for the farmers, require a lot of water, especially

watermelon.

Figure 2 Watermelon is one of the most important food both on the nutrition and the economic levels for El Heiz
The other major type of food is the cattle industry. According to one of the locals specialist in the

region, families might own up to 50 heads. The animals are however subjected to bad

alimentation (figure xxxx) which affects their industry. Rather than a source of food, they

constitute a source of renewable income: farmers often sell them to be able to buy their highly

cost needs.

Figure 3 Cows are an example of food source for the locals

This lead to the need of a global management of water resources, as well as considerations of

environmental impact on soil and corps and economic considerations for the locals. These were

considered in the recommendations given by WaDLmena Egypt team in Abu Minqar region [1].

A series of possible improvements for the food problems would be

Implementation of other irrigation types that are less wasteful in water and more efficient

like sprinkler irrigation

 Protection of the lands from desertification by implementation of efficient drainage

methods.

Creation and improvements of lining canals (figure xxxx) to decrease waste in water

Figure 4 Arrangement of Canals is one of the possible solutions to the agriculture-food problme in El Heiz

Creation of local markets that accounts for the economic challenges faced by the farmers.

Possible suggestion of other plantation types like olive oils and olive that are both

advantage economically and less water consuming.

In this implementation, the need for generous donations and funding from supporters is
clear as it would help solving mainly the economic problems related to the food problem.
References:

[1] Tutwiler et al., Community-Based Integrated Water Management in Farafra Oasis,

Egypt (2009)

[2] Irrigation Methods Chart, El Heiz Water Education Center Museum.