Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ABUDHABI3593
2003-08-03 13:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Cable title:
UAE RANKS FIFTH AMONG ARAB FARM EXPORTERS --
how-tonull Diana T Fritz 03/21/2007 11:43:20 AM From DB/Inbox: Search Results Cable Text: CONFIDENTIAL SIPDIS TELEGRAM August 03, 2003 To: No Action Addressee Action: Unknown From: AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI (ABU DHABI 3593 - ROUTINE) TAGS: EAGR, PGOV, PREL, SENV, ECON Captions: None Subject: UAE RANKS FIFTH AMONG ARAB FARM EXPORTERS -- AT GREAT COST TO ITS WATER RESOURCES Ref: None _________________________________________________________________ C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 03593 SIPDIS CXABU: ACTION: ECON INFO: P/M AMB DCM POL Laser1: INFO: FCS DISSEMINATION: ECON CHARGE: PROG APPROVED: AMB: MMWAHBA DRAFTED: ECON: GARANA CLEARED: A/DCM: KVANDEVATE; ECON: OBJOHN VZCZCADI943 RR RUEHC RUEHZM DE RUEHAD #3593 2151300 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 031300Z AUG 03 FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1141 RUEHZM/GCC COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 003593
SIPDIS
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, OES
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/08
TAGS: EAGR PGOV PREL SENV ECON TC
SUBJECT: UAE RANKS FIFTH AMONG ARAB FARM EXPORTERS --
AT GREAT COST TO ITS WATER RESOURCES
C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 003593
SIPDIS
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, OES
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/08
TAGS: EAGR PGOV PREL SENV ECON TC
SUBJECT: UAE RANKS FIFTH AMONG ARAB FARM EXPORTERS --
AT GREAT COST TO ITS WATER RESOURCES
1. (U) Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba, for
reasons 1.5 (B) and (D).
2. (U) Local press reported last week that the UAE
ranks fifth among Arab farm exporters according to
figures released by the Arab Organization for
Agricultural Development (AOAD). The UAE exported
products totaling approximately USD $1.59 billion in
2001, including vegetable and fruit, cereal, meat,
eggs, dairy and other products. The 2001 export value
was nearly double the 1995 amount and was ten times
higher than the amount recorded when the UAE was
created in 1971. The UAE has spent USD $4.2 billion
on agriculture in the last decade, increasing the
production of native and non-native crops.
2. (SBU) The UAE's stunning agricultural performance
is even more remarkable -- or incongruous -- in
context: the country's mean annual rainfall is only
about 100 mm and 90 percent of the land mass is
situated in one of the hottest, driest deserts in the
world. The emphasis on agriculture, and the general
greening of the desert, is a direct mandate from
Shaykh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi
Emirate and President of the UAE since its inception.
Shaykh Zayed has said, "Give me agriculture, and I
give you civilization" -- and the Emiratis have taken
this doctrine to heart. According to UAEG estimates,
there are approximately 36,000 farms in the country
(up from about 11,000 in 1980),ranging in size from
2.5-4 hectares. Abu Dhabi Emirate, which includes Al
Ain, the ancestral home of the ruling Al-Nahyan
family, has two-thirds of the farms in the country.
There are usually four wells per farm in Abu Dhabi,
with no licensing procedures for drilling. Wells are
drilled either privately or with the assistance of the
Ministry of Agriculture.
3. (C) Comment: The expansion of agriculture has had a
tremendous impact on the UAE's limited groundwater
resources. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
estimated in 1995-96 that groundwater reserves would
be depleted in 10-25 years and brackish water would be
depleted in 200 years. Though the UAEG still estimates
that groundwater will be depleted within ten years,
USGS now estimates that groundwater reserves will
probably be depleted within five years. Embassy
interlocutors told Econoff that UAE agriculture is
increasingly dependent on desalinated water,
especially in Abu Dhabi Emirate. Abu Dhabi currently
has six desalination plants, with a seventh to come
on-line in 2004, with daily usage around 300 million
gallons per day. The UAE has the second highest per
capita water usage in the world after the United
States, a figure skewed in part by the excessive
amount of water used for agriculture. End comment.
Wahba
SIPDIS
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, OES
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/28/08
TAGS: EAGR PGOV PREL SENV ECON TC
SUBJECT: UAE RANKS FIFTH AMONG ARAB FARM EXPORTERS --
AT GREAT COST TO ITS WATER RESOURCES
1. (U) Classified by Ambassador Marcelle M. Wahba, for
reasons 1.5 (B) and (D).
2. (U) Local press reported last week that the UAE
ranks fifth among Arab farm exporters according to
figures released by the Arab Organization for
Agricultural Development (AOAD). The UAE exported
products totaling approximately USD $1.59 billion in
2001, including vegetable and fruit, cereal, meat,
eggs, dairy and other products. The 2001 export value
was nearly double the 1995 amount and was ten times
higher than the amount recorded when the UAE was
created in 1971. The UAE has spent USD $4.2 billion
on agriculture in the last decade, increasing the
production of native and non-native crops.
2. (SBU) The UAE's stunning agricultural performance
is even more remarkable -- or incongruous -- in
context: the country's mean annual rainfall is only
about 100 mm and 90 percent of the land mass is
situated in one of the hottest, driest deserts in the
world. The emphasis on agriculture, and the general
greening of the desert, is a direct mandate from
Shaykh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi
Emirate and President of the UAE since its inception.
Shaykh Zayed has said, "Give me agriculture, and I
give you civilization" -- and the Emiratis have taken
this doctrine to heart. According to UAEG estimates,
there are approximately 36,000 farms in the country
(up from about 11,000 in 1980),ranging in size from
2.5-4 hectares. Abu Dhabi Emirate, which includes Al
Ain, the ancestral home of the ruling Al-Nahyan
family, has two-thirds of the farms in the country.
There are usually four wells per farm in Abu Dhabi,
with no licensing procedures for drilling. Wells are
drilled either privately or with the assistance of the
Ministry of Agriculture.
3. (C) Comment: The expansion of agriculture has had a
tremendous impact on the UAE's limited groundwater
resources. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
estimated in 1995-96 that groundwater reserves would
be depleted in 10-25 years and brackish water would be
depleted in 200 years. Though the UAEG still estimates
that groundwater will be depleted within ten years,
USGS now estimates that groundwater reserves will
probably be depleted within five years. Embassy
interlocutors told Econoff that UAE agriculture is
increasingly dependent on desalinated water,
especially in Abu Dhabi Emirate. Abu Dhabi currently
has six desalination plants, with a seventh to come
on-line in 2004, with daily usage around 300 million
gallons per day. The UAE has the second highest per
capita water usage in the world after the United
States, a figure skewed in part by the excessive
amount of water used for agriculture. End comment.
Wahba