Agriculture in Libya
Climatic conditions and poor soils limit farm output, and domestic food production meets about 25% of demand.
Domestic conditions limit output, while income and population growth have increased food consumption.
[1][2] Libya's primary agricultural water source remains the Great Man-made River (GMMR), but significant resources are being invested in desalinization research to meet growing demand.
The government bag began providing inducements for absentee landlords to encourage productive land use and initiated agricultural wage policies.
Agricultural was the cornerstone of the 1981-85 development plan, attaching high priority to funding the GMMR project, designed to bring water from aquifers in Sarir and Kufra.
[1] Area suitable for cultivation approximates 22,000 km2 of which 2,390 km2 dedicated to irrigated agriculture, 15,500 km2 to rain fed farming, and 140,000 km2 of forest and range lands.
[1] Studies from the 1970s indicated that at any given time, about one-third of total arable land remained fallow and up to 45% of farms were under 10 ha.
[1] Partly as a result of these policies and Islamic inheritance law, which stipulate each son receive an equal share of land upon the father's death, in 1986 farms tended to be fragmented and too small to efficiently use water.
The government recognized this in 1976, and took measures discouraging citrus and tomato cultivation, which require large water amounts.
However, the steps required to save coastal water resources – i.e., irrigation regulation and land tenure reform to make it more water-efficient - conflicted with Gaddafi's concept of economic equity, which favored intensive irrigated cultivation of small plots for family use.
[1] Thus, instead of reforming harmful practices, agricultural policy since 1983 focused on pumping water to the coast from fossil reserves in the desert as part of the GMMR project.
[9] A tiny percentage of the harvest was obtained by Libyans using small boats and skin-diving equipment from shallow waters inshore.
Low investments in fishing boats, ports, and processing facilities are major obstacles to growth.
The country has one major fishing port (Zliten), one tuna plant and two sardine factories with small processing capacities (1,000 metric tons per year each).
[6] With a primary and secondary productive employment base of around 12,000 persons by 2006, the national fisheries sector provides a small fraction - around 1% - of the total labor force.
During reforestation, scientists experimented with a petrochemical spray that is sufficiently porous to allow rain to seep through, yet sturdy enough to prevent seedlings from being blown away during sandstorms.
[1] Planting program goals included growing enough trees to meet domestic lumber needs, soil conservation and reclamation, and windbreaks for crops and settlements.
