Durham E-Theses The land use patterns and rural settlement in the Benghazi plain Hajjaji, Salem A. How to cite: Hajjaji, Salem A. (1969) The land use patterns and rural settlement in the Benghazi plain, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9644/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk ABSTRACT THE LAKD USE PATTERNS ANT) RURAL SETTLEMENT IN THE BENGHAZI PLAIN The triangular-shaped. Benghazi plain lies in the north• western part of the Cyrenaican peninsula. It is a wave-cut platform, with slight undulations in the northern part or Es-Sahel and almost level terrain in the south or Barga El Hamra. The escarpment which marks the plain's eastern "boundary- is a fault-line scarp, dissected "by numerous short, deep wadis, very few of which reach the sea; the majority disappear into the underlying Miocene limestones. Climatically, the Benghazi Plain lies within the semi-arid zone. Underground water resources are meagre and in the main, except in the Benghazi- Benina area, consist of shallow layers of "brackish or salty ground v/ater. Prom the pedological point of view, the soils of the Benghazi Plain are mostly clayey terra rossa "but generally calcareous and poor in humus. The distribution of vegetation is primarily determined "by the distribution of rain• fall. Generally, the northern part of the plain lies within the Mediterranean woodland region, while the southern part lies within the Irano-Turanian vegetation type. The long history of this region shows that, at least since the invasion by the Beni Sulaim tribes in the 11th century, the predominant land use type is shifting cultivation of cereals and animal husbandry; some irrigated farming is traditional in the coastal area where underground water is available. Here the rural settlements are clustered and the farmers practise a subsistence type of farming. The rural population is dispersed in pattern and few in number; the tenure of the land is tribal or communal, but in theory is vested in the State. The agricultural development is handicapped by the scarcity of irrigation water. Thus, any future economic development must depend primarily on the availability of good water. However, the construction of El Gwarsha Sewage Purification Plant and Wadi El Gattara Water Dam will undoubtedly provide good irrigation water for at least 2,500 ha. of virgin land. The El Gwarsha Land Settlement Scheme has already been planned and initiated under the supervision of N.A.S.A. However, the El Gattara Land Settlement Project has been proposed in the conclusion of this thesis. This project is designed according to a co-operative or joint type of farming, which the author believes best suits the Bedu way of life. The most striking result of these two land settlement projects is that, if they succeed as is planned, they will provide Benghazi with its requirements for agricultural products, except meat and some grains. At present more than 80 per cent of these needs are imported from Tripolitania and abroad. In addition to these benefits, the El Gattara project will aid in the sedenterisa- tion of the nomads and semi-nomads in the area. THE LAND USE PATTERNS AND RURAL SETTLEMENT IN THE BENGHAZI PLAIN BY SALEM A. HAJJAJI VOLUME I THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OP PH.D. OP THE UNIVERSITY OP DURHAM JUNE, 1969 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Preface iii Introduction vi Part I: Physical Background 1 Chapter 1 - Geomorphology 1 Chapter 2 - The Climate of the Benghazi Plain and the adjacent areas 21 Chapter 3 - Surface Drainage and Underground Water 2+0 Chapter 2+ - Soils and Vegetation 59 Part II: Land Use 100 Chapter 5 - The Land Use Patterns 1 00 5.1 - Cultivated Land 103 5.2 - Uncultivable Land 136 Chapter 6 - Crop Production and Yields 12+0 Chapter 7 - Forest and Grazing Land 193 7.1 - Forest Land 193 7.2 - Grazing Land 203 Chapter 8 - Animal Husbandry 213 Part III: The Agricultural Economy 22+2 Chapter 9 - Land Tenure and Farming Practices 22+2 9.1 - Land Tenure and Water Rights 22+2 9.2 - Present Agricultural Land Use Regions 266 9.3 - Methods and Types of Farming 2 72+ Chapter 10 - Farm Finance, Labour and Equipment 29I4. 10.1 - Farm Income and Expenditure 29I4. 10.2 - Farm Labour and Equipment 307 Part IV: The Rural Settlement 330 Chapter 11 - The Settlement Patterns 330 11.1 - The tribes of the Benghazi Plain 330 11.2 - Tribal Problems in relation to the land use 335 11.3 - Rural Population Patterns 338 11 .k - Rural Population Movement 3*4-6 11.5 - Types of settlement 351 11.6 - Rural Services 362 Part V: Conclusion Chapter 12 - Land Settlement Project 379 References 398 iii. PREFACE The selection of the Benghazi Plain area for this study resulted from a long-term interest and considerable familiarity with its geographical, economic and social aspects since I was an undergraduate in the University of Libya in Benghazi 13 years ago. Subsequently I made many field trips with the Geography Department as a leoturer, but a fuller understanding of the area and its problems was acquired during my extensive field work throughout the Benghazi Plain and the adjacent area (Fig.3) which lasted about twelve months, between September, 1966 and August, 1967. The distance covered in this period was about 5,300 km. Before beginning the field work I made an extensive study of the available literature on Cyrenaica (since not much is available on the Benghazi Plain), in Libya, Italy (mainly F.A.O. Departments) and England. This enabled me to write the first three chapters on the physical geography during my first year in the University of Durham. The topic of my thesis has been chosen for three main reasons. Firstly, the Benghazi Plain is the least studied area in northern Cyrenaica, despite its location near Benghazi City, the second largest city in Libya. The small amount of litera- iv. ture available concerns only some aspects of the area north of Benghazi. Secondly, almost all the economic development projects, particularly land settlement schemes, have been carried out (even during the times of the Italian and British Administration) in the Jabal El Akhdar area. Thirdly, it is hoped that this study, with its information, suggestions and proposals, will be applied to land settlement and other economic and social development projects, when the time comes to develop the Benghazi Plain area. There are many people in Libya who by their help and encouragement have enabled me to complete this study. Although it is impossible here to mention all of them by name, I should like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the Extension Department in the Ministry of Agriculture in Benghazi, Extension Officers and Mudirs of each Mudirya, and the National Agricultural Settlement Authority (N.A.S.A.) in Benghazi. I am deeply indebted to Professor J. I. Clarke, who supervised this work, for his guidance and invaluable criticism. My thanks are extended also to Professor H. Bowen-Jones and Dr. G. H. Blake who, during the absence of my supervisor in the U.S.A., discussed the plan of my thesis and field work and offered invaluable suggestions and encouragement. I wish also to thank Dr. K. Atkinson for his great help in checking the soil samples analysis. I am most grateful also to Professor W. B. Fisher for accepting me as a research student in his department. My thanks are due to other members of the staff and fellow postgraduates of the Department of Geography, Durham University, for their assistance and encouragement. vi. INTRODUCTION The triangular Benghazi Plain is situated in the north• western part of the Cyrenaica peninsula (Fig.1 ). It consists of two distinctive parts: the northern part extends from north of Benghazi to Tolmeita in the north-east, and is known to Cyrenaicans as ES-SAHEL (the coast), while the southern part lies between Benghazi in the north and the southern limit of the red soil (Terra Rossa) in the south, and is known as BARGA EL HAMRA (Red Cyrenaica). The plain occurs between 19° U51 E and 21° 00' E and 31° 22' N and 32° U4' N, and is bordered by the southern Mediterranean coast to the north, the Gulf of Sirte (Sidra) to the west and the western fringe of Jabal El Akhdar (Green mountain) represented by a wave-cut faulted escarpment which is a post-Miocene shoreline. The escarpment, which is dissected by deep gorges cut by numerous wadis, extends from Antelat (31° N) in the south to Ra3 Tolmeita (32° UV N) on the coast in the north-east, and its summit ranges from 150 m.