Located 30 kilometers outside of the capital Doha, where last year’s COP18 climate meetings were staged, the market is a unique opportunity for consumers to come face to face with the people who do the hard work of putting food on the table and it takes place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7am to 7pm.

Located near the Umm Salah Sports Club on Al Shamah Expressway, the market is not so accessible to Doha, where up to 60 percent of the emirate’s population resides, but it is convenient for the farmers.

Remarkably, 22 farmers are eking out a living in the dry, flatlands of Qatar, which desalinated a staggering 34.7 million cubic meters of water last year, which represents 11.2 percent more than the previous year’s output.

Concerned about the country’s food secure, Qatar launched the Global Dry Land Alliance (GDLA) in 2010 – an umbrella organization that would coalesce the work of 51 countries most vulnerable to food shortages to find solutions to upcoming challenges.

So called land grabs are one solution for Gulf countries, although many critics worry that the people already dependent on land gobbled up in these transactions will be left even more insecure.

Then there are initiatives like the Sahara Forest Project, which is an alternative, closed loop growing system that uses saltwater to grow food. Tentatively successful, SFP recently produced its first batch of cucumbers and other vegetables in a dry expanse of desert.

And then there are what Americans call “mom and pop” farmers. Every day men and women who can literally suck water out of bone dry earth to produce sound looking eggplants, turnips and other nutritious foods.

The farmer’s market bypasses the middleman, allowing supporters to purchase produce sans additional commission or fees. The central market will still carry local produce, but visiting the market provides the privilege of shaking your farmer’s hand. Stop on by if you can.

All images courtesy of Mohammed Ismail; you can even visit his Facebook profile.

The post A Farmer’s Market in Dead Dry Qatar appeared first on Green Prophet.

Back in early 2012, Human Rights Watch warned that tens of thousands of Ethiopians were being made destitute so their land could 

Following last week’s news that rich Middle Eastern royals were threatening Maasai land, I look back at land grab stories which have involved the Middle East this year – from Ethiopia, Tanzania and the Congo. The worst case to catch my eye is the forced displacement of Ethiopians.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch which came out in January 2012, the Ethiopian government is forcing tens of thousands of people off their land so it can lease it to foreign investors, leaving former landowners destitute and in some cases starving. The US human rights group states that there plans to lease 2.1 million hectares of land – mainly to countries such as China and Gulf Arab States.

1. Ethiopia

The HRW report Ethiopia: Forced Relocations Bring Hunger, Hardship, remarked that 1.5 million Ethiopians would eventually be forced from their land due to land grabs. The country has already leased 3 million hectares to foreign investors which is almost the size of Belgium and hopes to lease another 2.1 million hectares.

The Observer reported that the Government leased some 10,000ha to the Ethiopian born Saudi Arabian oil multi millionaire, Sheik Al Moudi (In 2011, Fortune magazine put his wealth at more than $12bn) to grow rice for his Saudi Star Company. Sheik Al Moudi plans to export over a million tonnes of rice a year to Saudi Arabia. :: The Independent (UK)

2. Congo

In May, we reported that an Islamic bank in Jordan, Sanabel, has bought up over a quarter of a Congo forest for ‘sustainable projects’. According to news reports, Sanabel which is Jordan’s first Islamic investment bank is considering a number of “Sharia’ compliant forestry activities” for the land it has purchased. These range from afforestation and reforestation projects, and protecting the land from deforestation and sustainable agro-forestry projects.

3. Tanzania

As we’ve already reported, Middle Eastern royals are being accused of aiding a massive sell-off of the Serengeti. And in a new twist to the land-grab meme, this land sell-off is not to secure access to precious food supplies but, rather, to indulge in the hunting whims of the Middle East’s elite.The campaigning group Avaaz has launched a online petition to ask Tanzania’s President Kikwete to reject the hunting corporation’s big deal and stop the sell-off of the Serengeti. So far, 871,942 people have signed the petition.

4. The world?

According to the latest report by the Worldwatch Institute, the “oil-rich but arid Gulf states made up the final group of major land investors.” Although they are not buying very much compared to the emerging economies (and their growing populations) of Brazil, India and China who together make up 25% of all land purchases, they are still significant buyers for their size. There is also a strong pattern of South-South purchasing or regionalised buying. For example, in the Middle East countries such as Saudi and the UAE have been buying land in Sudan but also more locally in Algeria and Morocco.

:: Image of Ethiopian children via Galyna Andrushko/Shuttstock.com

For more on land grab by Middle Eastern nations see:

Middle Eastern Royalty Threaten 48,000 Maasai in Hunting Deal

Saudi Star Among Firms Behind Thousands of Forced Relocations in Ethiopia

Jordanian Bank Buys One Quarter of a Congo Forest

African Land Grab Continues – Middle East is Major Buyer

The post 2012: Thousands Face Displacement Due to Middle Eastern Land Grab appeared first on Green Prophet.

According to the Worldwatch Institute’s latest report on land grab, the oil-rich Gulf nations are big buyers of foreign land

Since 2000, an estimated 70.2 million hectares of agricultural land worldwide has been sold or leased by private or public investors. Most of that land grab took place between 2008 and 2010 and most of the land bought was in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The buyers, however, were a little more dispersed with Brazil, India, China, East Asian nations, the US and the UK topping the list.

The oil-rich Gulf nations of the Middle East, however, were close behind making up one of the major groups of buyers. Indeed Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar alone bought up 4.6 million hectares of land over the decade. And other nations such as Egypt and Jordan have also been buying up fertile land abroad.

According to the latest report by the Worldwatch Institute, the “oil-rich but arid Gulf states made up the final group of major land investors.” Although they are not buying very much compared to the emerging economies (and their growing populations) of Brazil, India and China who together make up 25% of all land purchases, they are still significant buyers for their size. There is also a strong pattern of South-South purchasing or regionalised buying. For example, in the Middle East countries such as Saudi and the UAE have been buying land in Sudan but also more locally in Algeria and Morocco.

Worldwatch author Cameron Scherer said, “most of the data paint one of two pictures: First, there is a new ‘South-South’ regionalism, in which emerging economies invest in nearby, culturally affiliated countries. The other trend is one of wealthy (or increasingly wealthy) countries, many with little arable land, buying up land in low-income nations—-especially those that have been particularly vulnerable to the financial and food crises of recent years.”

Land grab can be defined as the large-scale purchase of agricultural land by foreign investors. The latest report by the Worldwatch Institute brings together data gathered by a network of 45 civil and research society organization which documented 1,006 land deals covering 70.2 million hectares of land from around the world. The data shows a clear peak of land purchasing in 2009 following the food crisis of 2007-08 which saw a rise in the cost of staple foods.

The food crisis of 2008 was also sparked by the rising cost of fuel and oil prices. This led to countries buying up agricultural land hoping to make the most of the rising costs or to protect themselves by garnering a little food security. Africa, with it’s huge land mass, was the main target. In fact, approximately 56.2 million hectares of the land purchased was in Africa.

Although we tend to think of land grab as closely linked to food and food security, the Worldwatch Institute’s report found that a quarter of land grab was not linked to agricultural projects. Upto 11 percent of investors are in the forestry sector, and 8 percent are from the mining industry, livestock, or tourism sectors.

The implications of land grab whilst unclear do not look promising. In many cases, the deal done between investors and the local government displaces local farmers who often work the land but lack formal land rights or access to legal support. The use of industrial agriculture and other related practices can also have negative implication on the land’s quality and the environment surrounding it.

As the Worldwatch Institute state: “In the absence of clear regulations, robust enforcement mechanisms, government transparency, and channels for civil society participation, further investments in land may benefit a group of increasingly wealthy investors at the expense of those living in the targeted land areas.”

: Image of African farmer via Shutterstock.com

For more on land grabs by the Middle East see:

Global Land Grabs: Benefits, Emerging Dangers and Growing Anxieties

Jordanian Bank Sanabel Buys One Quarter of A Congo Forest

Africa Up For Sale: Is the Middle East Buying?

The post African Land Grab Continues – Middle East Is Major Buyer appeared first on Green Prophet.

An Islamic bank in Jordan, Sanabel, has bought up over a quarter of a Congo forest for ‘sustainable projects’

When I first read about the acquisition of 500,000 hectares of high value forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo by an Islamic investment bank in Jordan, I thought one thing: land grab.

Over the last couple of years, countries across the MENA region have been buying tracts of land all over Africa. Worried about the rising cost of food as well as declining natural resources locally, they have been trying to make sure that their eggs (so to speak) aren’t all in one basket. Egypt has bought up land in Sudan, Saudi Arabia has staked a claim on land in Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates has farms in Sudan, Morocco and Algeria.

However, this latest land acquisition by Sanabel is a little more interesting as it claims to come with some green credentials. According to news reports, Sanabel which is Jordan’s first Islamic investment bank is considering a number of “Sharia’ compliant forestry activities” for the land it has purchased. These range from afforestation and reforestation projects, and protecting the land from deforestation and sustainable agro-forestry projects.

I have written about the ethical aspects of Islamic banking in the past and also the important role they could be playing in protecting the planet, so it’s great to see some action being taken. Indeed Al-Sanabel Chairman and CEO Khaldoun Malkawi explained that these activities are entirely compatible with Islamic banking principles since they simultaneously help to fight climate change by protecting biodiversity, reducing poverty and promoting corporate social responsibility.

Sanabel did however also add that this purchase is part of their plans to capitalise on the rapidly growing carbon trading market. This means that the company “will develop forest carbon credits projects that will protect the role of forests in mitigating climate change.”

As such Sanabel will be hoping to get companies to pay them to preserve the forestland in Congo and protect it from deforestation in return for carbon credits which help them meet their carbon reduction targets.

This is, however, where it gets a little messy.

Firstly, the carbon credit market has been widely criticised for allowing business to continue spewing lots of emissions. It turns out that buying carbon credits from schemes such as the one that Sanabel will be running is a lot cheaper and easier for businesses than actually cutting their own emissions.

So instead of protecting the environment and helping tackle global warming, these scheme just help companies continue their destructive practices.

The second issue that needs to be considered is the displacement of poor people living in these forests. For example, 70,000 indigenous people living in the western region of Gambella in Ethiopia were forced to relocate as the land had been living on was bought up by foreign investors. Saudi Star Agriculture Development was one of the companies implicated in this forced displacement.

Land ownership is a hugely contested issue and passing on ownership to a foreign government can only make the situation more complicated.

So while I’m happy to see Islamic banks consider green projects, I think they need to do better next time. They need to show that they aren’t out just to make a quick buck and also that they take their environmental responsibilities seriously.

Update March 2020: the website/Facebook page for Sanabel is down.

Images of Congo forest via bobulix/flickr.

For more on African land grab see:
Egypt to Grab Sudanese Land To Meet Its Wheat Needs
Africa Up For Sale, Is The Middle East Buying?
Arab States Buy Up Vast Tracts Of African Farmland

The post Jordanian Bank Sanabel Buys One Quarter of a Congo Forest appeared first on Green Prophet.

Water is a non-renewable resource in the Saudi desert, which only receives one inch of rain a year, so it makes sense to use existing resources very, very carefully, right? For ancient desert dwellers, this concept was a no-brainer, but for modern society – not so much.

Concerns about creating food security for Saudi Arabia’s population has led to an insane agricultural program depicted in NASA satellite images collected between 1987 and 2012. These eye-opening pictures demonstrate how the fields have grown using finite water sources trapped during the last Ice Age that hydrologists estimate will be gone within 50 years! 

Each patch in these Landsat images represents a field of wheat (along with other crops) that is approximately 1 kilometer or 0.62 miles wide. A bright green block is healthy, according to NASA, while the orange-hued segments aren’t faring so well beneath the crippling desert sun.

The crops are irrigated using a technique called center-pivot irrigation. Saudis drill deep holes beneath the desert sands to tap into fossilized water captured hundreds of thousands of years ago.

The water is then pumped through a circular sprinkling system that sprays the crops.

NASA, which manages the Landsat imaging program with the U.S. Department of Interior, explains how the images were captured and what they represent:

The images were created using reflected light from the short wave-infrared, near-infrared, and green portions of the electromagnetic spectrum (bands 7, 4, and 2 from Landsat 4 and 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+ sensors). Using this combination of wavelengths, healthy vegetation appears bright green while dry vegetation appears orange. Barren soil is a dark pink, and urban areas, like the town of Tubarjal at the top of each image, have a purple hue.

Using their extraordinary fossil wealth, Saudi has also nabbed up land in other countries, including water and food scarce Ethiopia, in order to secure food supplies for their own population.

I guess it’s hard to give up the good life, but it won’t be good indefinitely.

:: Grist, NASA

More News from Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Star Among Firms Behind Thousands of Forced Relocations in Ethiopia
Aflaj: Ancient Channels Keep Water Flowing in the Desert
Morocco’s Berbers had Water Management Sorted

The post Saudi’s Waste of Ice Age Water Depicted in 4 NASA Images appeared first on Green Prophet.

Last week BBC News reported that 70,000 indigenous people have been forced to relocate in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia to new villages that lack adequate resources for their survival. The land has been signed over to foreign investors, including Saudi Star Agriculture Development Plc, a company owned by Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi.

Felix Horne of the Oakland Institute recently authored Understanding Land Investment Deals in Africa – a succinct analysis of the perils of land grabs in Ethiopia. He told Green Prophet that Saudi Star has begun rice cultivation on 10,000ha of land in Gambella and a 10,000ha irrigation project along the already-compromised Alwero River. Only grain that does not meet export requirements will be sold locally.

Nothing is Voluntary

The BBC reports, “The government in Addis Ababa has said in the past that all the moves are voluntary, the new villages will have adequate infrastructure and everyone who moves will be given assistance to help their transition to a new livelihood.”

Land grabs have also been defended under the pretext that arable land is “unused,” that Environmental Impact Assessments would be required, and that local communities would benefit from foreign investment.

But the Oakland Institute and Human Rights Watch warn that what is actually happening is very different than government claims. To date, no mechanism to improve food security for Ethiopians has been implemented, contracts between investors and the Ethiopian government provide incentives to export food instead of feeding locals, and not a single government official or investor has been able to provide an Environmental Impact Assessment.

Violent reprisals

“Several small villages (including Oriedhe and Oridge) within the Saudi Star lease area have been relocated across the Alwero river to Pokedi as part of the villagization program currently underway in Gambella,” OI reports, adding that “Villagers often used the now-cleared forest in the Saudi lease area during times of food insecurity for gathering food, fuelwood, and medicines.”

American resident Magn Nyang told the BBC that his mother was forcibly re-settled from a village close to Gambella town to a camp. “When the investors came in they took over the land and they [the villagers] were kicked out,” he said.

The army beat another man with sticks and the butt of a rifle when he refused to leave. He later died, and his family blames the violent beating he received.

Although Saudi Star has admitted that the Alwero River can only provide irrigation for 1,800 ha of rice, 30 kilometers of irrigation channels are currently being built and villagers worry about how they will feed their children.

Humans and animals are losing their land

The company is also infringing on land perceived to be a part of the Gambella National Park. The Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA), according to OI, estimates that 438,000 ha of land have been leased to various investors in the vicinity of the park, all without Environmental Impact Assessments.

The park is home to “69 mammal species, including 58 large mammals. The park also contains valuable wetland habitat, hundreds of bird species, and 92 fish species, representing 69 percent of all fish species in Ethiopia,” OI reports.

Saudi Star’s owner Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi is listed by Forbes as the 63rd wealthiest person on earth. He is also the richest person in Ethiopia, where at least 39% of the population lives below the poverty line, and the second richest Saudi citizen in the world.

Only rice that does not grow longer than 7mm will be sold locally, while the rest will be exported – with Saudi Arabia expected to be a huge benefactor, according to Bloomberg News. Eventually, Saudi Star hopes to lease up to 500,000 ha of Ethiopian land.

Land grabs in Ethiopia are well underway, and given lack of genuine government oversight comprise nothing less than a humanitarian disaster.

images via Felix Horne

More on Ethiopia and Land Grabs:

Global Land Grabs: Benefits, Emerging Dangers, and Growing Anxieties

Egypt to Grab Sudanese Land to Meet its Wheat Needs

Ethiopia’s New Solar-Powered Cell Phone Charging and Water Service

The post Saudi Star Among Firms Behind Thousands of Forced Relocations in Ethiopia appeared first on Green Prophet.

So, all this worrying about the burgeoning population was for nought? We don’t need to be concerned that we are rapidly reaching a population of 7 billion and by the end of the century, we are likely to hit the 10 billion mark? Well, not exactly. Yes, Nature published a handy guide to increasing agricultural yields (hat tip to Nona Willis Aroniwitz from GOOD for breaking it down), but no, it won’t be easy. Feeding 10 billion people can be done, except it will require political will, cooperation, and even a bit of Jobsian self-discipline and self-sacrifice. Step on in for the most succinct five solutions to ending hunger we have ever seen.

Every nation on earth is concerned about feeding their people, but in the Middle East, we have especially good reasons to start thinking quickly. Already, in densely and economically challenged countries like Egypt – despite the rise in organic farms and the slow food movement – food is becoming scarce. And all the wealth in the world hasn’t brought the Gulf countries sufficient fertile land to achieve food independence.

This situation is leading to “land grabs” – where wealthier countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are buying up huge swaths of land from poorer countries in Africa and Asia.

• As it turns out, Solutions for a Cultivated Planet recommends that we focus more agricultural attention on Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe into order to increase agricultural yields. But we would like to add that if we do so, it should occur in a manner much more egalitarian than current resource extraction. In other words, it has to benefit the locals too!
• Farming in tropical lands is a waste of time. Although rich in biodiversity, the tropics aren’t great for growing nutritious food for a lot of people. Leave the forests to the task of sponging up our carbon emissions!
• This seems like a no-brainer since farmers and suppliers are locked into a never-ending cycle of doing just this, but it is suggested that the use of water, fertilizer, and chemicals needs to be improved. We are becoming especially adept at excellent irrigation methods in parts of the Middle East, although other countries remain woefully inefficient.
• We need to stop eating so much meat! This will send some carnivores into paroxyms of panic, but cultivating meat – particularly in wealthier countries – usurps an incredible amount of land and feed. Cattle are getting fat, but the people in Somalia are starving. Tell that to your kids at the dinner table.
• And finally, food waste must end. This isn’t only a problem during Ramadan or other holidays. It turns out that one third of all the food we produce in the world either rots, gets tossed out, or becomes fodder for pesky pests.

The 21 authors who contributed to this study make it sound so simple, but so far human beings have not proved especially talented at ensuring that everyone has enough to eat. Still, we have to believe we’ll get it right eventually!

:: GOOD, Nature

More on the Challenges Associated with Population Growth in the Middle East:

A Profile of Iraq’s Environmental Woes

The GINK Manifesto: Childless, Proud, and Loud

Fish Farming Isn’t so Evil After All

image via USAID on Flickr

The post Actually, We Can Feed 10 Billion People. Here’s How appeared first on Green Prophet.