Country Information about Northern Africa

Northern Africa: arable land
(Source: UNEP 2005)

Northern Africa is characterized by mostly arid areas, yet land resources play a pivotal role in its development and the well-being of its people.

The main three land-use categories are cultivated land, forests and rangelands. Agricultural land constitutes 233,590 hectares (ha), which is nearly 28.8 percent of the total land area.

Arable land in Northern Africa is of varied soil characteristics, which belong to the Aridisol group. Aside from the alluvial soils of the river basins, the desert soils are of inferior chemical, physical and nutritional properties. In general, soil resilience is rather weak with rapid responses to development and degradation. The extent of use of arable land varies considerably among the countries. Some countries have already fully utilized the land resources available to them, while others are still to fully utilize them. In Sudan, for example, there are vast areas of potential arable land yet to be developed. The extent to which irrigation is used varies dramatically, with 99.94 percent of all agricultural land in Egypt being under irrigation, compared with less than 1.5 percent in Algeria and Sudan.

Over the past 50 years, the traditional systems of cultivation and conservation have broken down. Productivity has declined as soil erosion from overcultivation and overgrazed lands has reduced soil fertility. Coupled with naturally inadequate drainage, this has led to the accumulation of high levels of soluble salts, especially in Egypt and Sudan. In Egypt 3.4 million ha of all agricultural land is irrigated. About one million hectares are suffering from primary or secondary salinization. This is in part due to the use of saline drainage water and brackish water in irrigation.

More than 57 percent of the total land of Northern Africa is threatened by desertification.

Endowment and opportunities

The continued expansion of the oil sector contributed to an overall growth rate of 4.8 percent in 2004, close to that in 2003. Gross domestic product (GDP) was projected to be 5.2 percent for 2005, led by growth in the agricultural sector, assuming good weather conditions and continued gains from oil through foreign investment inflows to oil-related activities in Libya, Mauritania and Sudan.

Growth in tourism in Morocco and Tunisia offers opportunities for development. In Egypt, tourism continues to be an important industry and a key factor in its sustained growth of 3.2 percent in 2004. Land cultivation is becoming increasingly dualistic in nature. A high technology agribusiness sector is developing alongside traditional smallholder agriculture. The cultivable land covers between 22 and 25 percent of the total land area. The percentage of agricultural land (including arable, forests and rangeland) to the total land area ranges from 2.6 percent in Egypt to 77.4 percent in Morocco. The percentage of irrigated land as a percentage of arable land varies between nearly 100 percent in Egypt, where rain-fed agriculture is almost negligible, to around 15 percent in Morocco and Sudan, where arable rain-fed areas amount to 16.1 percent and 3.32 percent respectively. The expansion and intensification of land use in marginal dry areas has greatly exacerbated the risk of land degradation.