IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v104y2018icp140-153.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Desert land reclamation programs and family land dynamics in the Western Desert of the Nile Delta (Egypt), 1960–2010

Author

Listed:
  • Alary, Véronique
  • Aboul-Naga, Adel
  • Osman, Mona A.
  • Daoud, Ibrahim
  • Abdelraheem, Sahar
  • Salah, Ehab
  • Juanes, Xavier
  • Bonnet, Pascal

Abstract

The agricultural development on newly reclaimed lands has led to many national debates about food security and budget deficits, and the living conditions of the new settlers at the local level. This debate is still crucial for present day Egypt, a country facing major challenges, including food security, agriculture modernization, employment generation, and land fragmentation due to dramatic population growth. In this context, policy makers are always seeking the best land allocation system for these new lands. This paper analyzes the land tenure and land use dynamics of farmers’ settlements during a program of land reclamation (from 1960 to 2010) in the Western Desert of the Nile Delta. The objective is to describe the land development paths of farm settlement and to identify promising dynamics by cross-referencing the farmers’ stories and their livelihood achievements. To accomplish that, we conducted household surveys and interviews to learn the life stories’ of 175 family farms. Our study finds that, beyond the rules and institutions that fixed the land tenure regimes and its distribution in these new lands, settlers have found different ways to hold on and secure their land farm, even if the unequal land distribution still structure the population. The results highlight also the dynamism of small-scale settlers, regarding livelihood diversification, to face the challenges of these desert environments. In addition, the dual-purpose system embedded in mixed crop-livestock systems can contribute to settlers’ livelihood security. These realities confound the unchanged rhetoric of government and this calls for more social consideration of these new rural spaces based on a combination of heterogeneous networks off relationships and knowledge. The apparent gap between the macro- and micro-perspectives analyses also requires multi-scale assessments. Finally, the life-story method proves to be a complementary and useful approach to integrate the livelihood representation and dynamic.

Suggested Citation

  • Alary, Véronique & Aboul-Naga, Adel & Osman, Mona A. & Daoud, Ibrahim & Abdelraheem, Sahar & Salah, Ehab & Juanes, Xavier & Bonnet, Pascal, 2018. "Desert land reclamation programs and family land dynamics in the Western Desert of the Nile Delta (Egypt), 1960–2010," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 140-153.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:104:y:2018:i:c:p:140-153
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.11.017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X17303790
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.11.017?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin, Sarah M. & Lorenzen, Kai, 2016. "Livelihood Diversification in Rural Laos," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 231-243.
    2. Reardon, Thomas, 1997. "Using evidence of household income diversification to inform study of the rural nonfarm labor market in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 735-747, May.
    3. Frank Ellis, 2000. "The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 289-302, May.
    4. Merry, Frank & Amacher, Gregory & Lima, Eirivelthon, 2008. "Land Values in Frontier Settlements of the Brazilian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2390-2401, November.
    5. Frank Ellis, 1998. "Household strategies and rural livelihood diversification," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 1-38.
    6. Resosudarmo, Ida Aju Pradnja & Atmadja, Stibniati & Ekaputri, Andini Desita & Intarini, Dian Y. & Indriatmoko, Yayan & Astri, Pangestuti, 2014. "Does Tenure Security Lead to REDD+ Project Effectiveness? Reflections from Five Emerging Sites in Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 68-83.
    7. Ellis, Frank, 2000. "Rural Livelihoods and Diversity in Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198296966.
    8. Stephen P. Aldrich & Robert T. Walker & Eugenio Y. Arima & Marcellus M. Caldas & John O. Browder & Stephen Perz, 2006. "Land-Cover and Land-Use Change in the Brazilian Amazon: Smallholders, Ranchers, and Frontier Stratification," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 82(3), pages 265-288, July.
    9. Chimhowu, Admos & Hulme, David, 2006. "Livelihood dynamics in planned and spontaneous resettlement in Zimbabwe: Converging and Vulnerable," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 728-750, April.
    10. World Bank, 2013. "World Development Indicators 2013," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13191.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kibrom A. Abay & Lina Abdelfattah & Hoda El‐Enbaby & Mai Mahmoud & Clemens Breisinger, 2022. "Plot size and sustainable input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture: Evidence from Egypt," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(5), pages 792-810, September.
    2. Wang, Tianyu & Wang, Zhenhua & Guo, Li & Zhang, Jinzhu & Li, Wenhao & He, Huaijie & Zong, Rui & Wang, Dongwang & Jia, Zhecheng & Wen, Yue, 2021. "Experiences and challenges of agricultural development in an artificial oasis: A review," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    3. Heba E. Helmy, 2019. "Are Rural Egyptians Better Off? Trends in Inequality and Real Consumption Expenditure in Rural Egypt," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(3), pages 238-264, September.
    4. Alary, Véronique & Messad, Samir & Aboul-Naga, Adel & Osman, Mona A. & H. Abdelsabour, Taha & Salah, Abdel-Aal E. & Juanes, Xavier, 2020. "Multi-criteria assessment of the sustainability of farming systems in the reclaimed desert lands of Egypt," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    5. Baoquan Cheng & Jianchang Li & Jingfang Tao & Jianling Huang & Huihua Chen, 2023. "Assessing the Land Reclamation Suitability of Beam Fabrication and Storage Yard in Railway Construction: An AHP-MEA Method," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-20, February.
    6. Florence Jacquet & A Aboul-Naga & Bernard Hubert, 2020. "The contribution of ARIMNet to address livestock systems resilience in the Mediterranean region," Post-Print hal-03625860, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. An Thinh Nguyen & Le Truc Nguyen & Hanh Hong Nguyen & Hanh Ta & Hong Nguyen & Tuan Anh Pham & Bich Thi Nguyen & Thao Thi Pham & Nhan Thi Thanh Tang & Luc Hens, 2020. "Rural livelihood diversification of Dzao farmers in response to unpredictable risks associated with agriculture in Vietnamese Northern Mountains today," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 5387-5407, August.
    2. Maria Mwaipopo Fibaek, 2021. "Working Poor? A Study of Rural Workers' Economic Welfare in Kenya," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 41-69, January.
    3. Vellema, W. & Buritica Casanova, A. & Gonzalez, C. & D’Haese, M., 2015. "The effect of specialty coffee certification on household livelihood strategies and specialisation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 13-25.
    4. repec:dgr:rugcds:cds-27 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Asfaw, Solomon & Scognamillo, Antonio & Caprera, Gloria Di & Sitko, Nicholas & Ignaciuk, Adriana, 2019. "Heterogeneous impact of livelihood diversification on household welfare: Cross-country evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 278-295.
    6. Bezu, Sosina & Holden, Stein, 2014. "Are Rural Youth in Ethiopia Abandoning Agriculture?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 259-272.
    7. Asfaw, Solomon & McCarthy, Nancy & Paolantonio, Adriana & Cavatassi, Romina & Amare, Mulubrhan & Lipper, Leslie, 2015. "Diversification, Climate Risk and Vulnerability to Poverty: Evidence from Rural Malawi," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 230216, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Zerihun Berhane Weldegebriel & Martin Prowse, 2013. "Climate-Change Adaptation in Ethiopia: To What Extent Does Social Protection Influence Livelihood Diversification?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 31, pages 35-56, November.
    9. Ali Akbar Barati & Milad Zhoolideh & Mostafa Moradi & Eydieh Sohrabi Mollayousef & Christine Fürst, 2022. "Multidimensional poverty and livelihood strategies in rural Iran," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(11), pages 12963-12993, November.
    10. Tanui, Joseph & Groeneveld, Rolf & Klomp, Jeroen & Mowo, Jeremiahs & Ierland, Ekko C. van, 2013. "Explaining investments in sustainable land management: The role of various income sources in the smallholder farming systems of western Kenya," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161275, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    11. Gamel Abdul-Nasser Salifu, 2019. "The Political Economy Dynamics of Rural Household Income Diversification: A Review of the International Literature," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(3), pages 273-290, December.
    12. Misganaw Teshager Abeje & Atsushi Tsunekawa & Enyew Adgo & Nigussie Haregeweyn & Zerihun Nigussie & Zemen Ayalew & Asres Elias & Dessalegn Molla & Daregot Berihun, 2019. "Exploring Drivers of Livelihood Diversification and Its Effect on Adoption of Sustainable Land Management Practices in the Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-23, May.
    13. Jiao, Xi & Pouliot, Mariève & Walelign, Solomon Zena, 2017. "Livelihood Strategies and Dynamics in Rural Cambodia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 266-278.
    14. Islam, Masanori Matsuura Yir-Huieh Luh Abu Hayat Md. Saiful, 2021. "Climate Variability, Livelihood Diversification, and Household Food Security in Bangladesh," 2021 ASAE 10th International Conference (Virtual), January 11-13, Beijing, China 329402, Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE).
    15. Md.Salamun Rashidin & Sara Javed & Bin Liu & Wang Jian, 2020. "Ramifications of Households’ Nonfarm Income on Agricultural Productivity: Evidence From a Rural Area of Pakistan," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    16. Van Nam, M. & Lensink, R., 2008. "Economic Development of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam," CDS Research Reports CDS-27, University of Groningen, Centre for Development Studies (CDS).
    17. Barrett, Christopher B. & Bezuneh, Mesfin & Aboud, Abdillahi, 2001. "Income diversification, poverty traps and policy shocks in Cote d'Ivoire and Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 367-384, August.
    18. Shanta Paudel Khatiwada & Wei Deng & Bikash Paudel & Janak Raj Khatiwada & Jifei Zhang & Yi Su, 2017. "Household Livelihood Strategies and Implication for Poverty Reduction in Rural Areas of Central Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-20, April.
    19. Wassie Berhanu & David Colman & Bichaka Fayissa, 2007. "Diversification and livelihood sustainability in a semi-arid environment: A case study from southern Ethiopia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5), pages 871-889.
    20. Martin, Sarah M. & Lorenzen, Kai, 2016. "Livelihood Diversification in Rural Laos," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 231-243.
    21. Sharma, Rajeev, 2018. "Rural Livelihood Diversity in Jammu and Kashmir: Patterns, Processes and Determinants," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 73(04), October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:104:y:2018:i:c:p:140-153. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.