Environmental Cost and Face of Agriculture in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries: Fostering Agriculture in the Context of Climate Change

215 Pages·2014·2.94 MB·English

by  Shabbir A. Shahid

Shabbir A. Shahid
Mushtaque Ahmed
Editors
Environmental
Cost and Face of
Agriculture in
the Gulf Cooperation
Council Countries
Fostering Agriculture
in the Context of Climate Change
Environmental Cost and Face of Agriculture
in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

Shabbir A. Shahid (cid:129) Mushtaque Ahmed
Editors
Environmental Cost and Face
of Agriculture in the Gulf
Cooperation Council
Countries
Fostering Agriculture in the Context
of Climate Change
Editors
ShabbirA.Shahid MushtaqueAhmed
SoilManagementProgram,Research DepartmentofSoils,Water
andInnovationDivision andAgriculturalEngineering
InternationalCenterforBiosaline CollegeofAgriculturalandMarineSciences
Agriculture SultanQaboosUniversity
Dubai,UnitedArabEmirates Oman
ISBN978-3-319-05767-5 ISBN978-3-319-05768-2(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-05768-2
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014942259
©GulfResearchCentreCambridge2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise,
withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionoftheGulfResearchCentreCambridge.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors alone and do not
necessarilystateorreflecttheopinionsorpositionoftheGulfResearchCentreCambridge.
Coverimagecaption:ProtectedagricultureisgainingimportanceinGulfCooperationCouncil(GCC)
countries.Thisphotoillustratesfarmersmakingagradualshiftfromopenfieldagriculturetoprotected
agriculture(PhotographcourtesyofJohnA.Kelley,USDA-NRCS).
Printedonacid-freepaper
SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com)
Foreword
The2008globalfoodcrisisandthesudden increaseincommodityprices brought
theissuesoffoodsecurityandsustainabilityoffoodproductiontotheforefrontin
the Gulf region. Despite the issue having always lingered somewhere in the
background, the fact that the GCC countries import more than 70 % oftheir food
requirementswassuddenlythrustforwardasahigh-prioritynationalsecurityissue
withgovernmentsintheregionscramblingtoformulatenationalstrategiesandfood
security plans. Included in this flurry of activity sweeping the region were
announcements of multi-billion dollar investments abroad in an attempt to ensure
food supplies and provide for long-term food security. However, many of these
investments have failed to come about due to a variety of political and economic
factors.Assuch,foodsecurityremainsasubjectofconcernfortheregion.
In the Gulf, water scarcity is pronounced and dependence on food imports
continues to grow for which there are no easy solutions. Moreover, it must be
understoodthattheissueoffoodsecurityiscloselyintertwinedwithahostofother
challenges confronting the Gulf region including climate change, reliance on
hydrocarbonincome,politicalinstabilities,andrisingpopulationgrowthincluding
thecontinuedrelianceonalargeexpatriateworkforce.Allthesefactorscombineto
makeagricultureproductionintheregionatopicofcurrentrelevance.
This volume is the result of a workshop entitled “Environmental Cost and
ChangingFaceofAgricultureintheGulfStates”organizedwithintheframework
ofthe2012GulfResearchMeetingheldfromJuly11–14,2012attheUniversityof
Cambridge. The workshop brought together participants from a wide variety of
backgrounds and geographical locations in an effort to better understand the
challenges the Gulf region faces when it comes to food production and how to
bridgethegapbetweenlocalproductionandfoodimports.Thebookhighlightsnot
onlytheprospectsofagricultureintheregionbutlooksatthepotentialofclimate-
smart agriculture, improvedwater use efficiency, the use oftreatedwastewater as
wellasissuesofagriculturalresearchanddevelopment.
The Gulf Research Centre Cambridge is grateful to Dr. Shabbir A. Shahid,
Senior Scientist at the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in
Dubai, UAE, and Dr. Mushtaque Ahmed from Sultan Qaboos University in the
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vi Foreword
SultanateofOmanforhavingtakenonthetaskofdirectingthisworkshopandthen
followingtheworkthroughtothispublication.Aspecialthanksisalsoextendedto
all those who presented papers at the workshop and thus added to our knowledge
about this important topic for the Gulf region. It is through such work that we
hopetoenlightenthepolicydebateandcontributetofurtherunderstandingsomeof
thechallengesfacedbytheregion.
Chairman Dr.AbdulazizO.Sager
GulfResearchCentreCambridge
Message
Worldwidethemainissueshamperingfoodsecurityarewater/landavailabilityand
thefooddistribution.Thenumbersareworrisome:870millionpeoplearehungry;
everyyearabout12millionhectaresworldwidearelosttolanddegradation,andthe
rate is increasing exponentially. Further, based on the World Economic Forum,
water supply is among the top five global risks by likelihood and impact and the
GCCisthemostwater-scarceregionintheworld.
Studieshaveshownthattoincreasetheworldproductionby2050,wewillhave
toincreaseagricultureproductioninmarginalenvironments.Andtodoso,weneed
innovativetechnologiesandideastousewiselyallavailableresources.TheInter-
nationalCenterforBiosalineAgriculturehasworked,overthelast14years,closely
with several GCC countries to increase local agriculture production and develop
National agriculture and food security strategies. Over the last year, ICBA went
through a participatory strategy review and development exercise (including a
foresight symposium) which resulted in a new strategy emphasizing innovative
research, partnership and impact. We, at ICBA, aim at working with partners to
deliveragriculturalandwaterscarcitysolutionsinmarginalenvironments.
This book is a good illustration of joint efforts between Gulf Research Centre
Cambridge,SultanQaboosUniversity,andICBA.IwouldliketocongratulateGulf
ResearchCentreCambridgefororganizingthe“EnvironmentalCostandChanging
FaceofAgricultureintheGulfStates” workshopandDrs.ShabbirA.Shahidand
MushtaqueAhmedforconductingtheworkshopandeditingthisimportantbook.
DirectorGeneral IsmahaneElouafi
InternationalCenterforBiosalineAgriculture
Dubai,UnitedArabEmirates
vii

Message
Iampleasedtoknowaboutthepublicationofthisbookhighlightingtheenvironmental
costs and the changing face of agriculture in the GCC countries. Agriculture faces
serious challenges in the GCC countries due to water shortage, arid condition, poor
soil,climatechangeeffectsandvariousotherreasons.Agricultureplaysanimportant
role in Oman as large number of Omanis are engaged in agricultural activities.
Agriculture in Oman is also the largest consumer of water resources (more than
90%).Assuchthereisaneedforresearchtoensurepartialself-sufficiencyofsome
cropsandattainfoodsecurityinOmanwithoutharmingtheenvironment.Thefaculty
and staff of the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences of Sultan Qaboos
UniversityareengagedinresearchtotackleproblemsofOmaniagricultureandhave
made enormous contribution in broadening the knowledge base on different issues
relevanttoGCCagriculture.Thisbookwillhelpindisseminatingsuchknowledgetoa
wideraudience.
I congratulate Gulf Research Centre Cambridge (GRCC) and the editors for
publishingthisbookwhichwillbeofinterestnotonlytotheagriculturalscientists
butalsotothedecisionmakersofthisregion.
DeputyVice-Chancellor–Postgraduate Prof.AmerAliAl-Rawas
StudiesandResearch
SultanQaboosUniversity
Muscat,SultanateofOman
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