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Five-Way Summit Anticipated in Egypt

The Egyptian President and his Emirati counterpart in New Alamein on Sunday (Egyptian Presidency)
The Egyptian President and his Emirati counterpart in New Alamein on Sunday (Egyptian Presidency)
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Five-Way Summit Anticipated in Egypt

The Egyptian President and his Emirati counterpart in New Alamein on Sunday (Egyptian Presidency)
The Egyptian President and his Emirati counterpart in New Alamein on Sunday (Egyptian Presidency)

Arab and regional observers have turned their eyes towards Egypt’s northwestern coastal city of New Alamein, where the North African state is expected to hold a five-way summit that will see the participation of leaders from Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, and Iraq.

Meanwhile, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held a summit in New Alamein with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday to discuss bilateral cooperation as well as a host of regional and international issues.

The two leaders also agreed during the summit on the importance of bolstering Arab joint efforts to confront common challenges facing the Arab World, Egypt's presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.

They called for coordinated efforts to find long-term solutions to regional crises to bring about security, stability and peace for the region and its peoples, it added.

They also vowed to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, especially on the economy and development, to support their aspirations towards achieving sustainable development, progress and prosperity, according to the statement.

Local Egyptian media, including the semi-official channel Extra News, quoted a source it described as “informed” that “the leaders of Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain and Iraq will hold an upcoming summit in the city of New Alamein.”

However, the source did not specify the date.

Extra News reported that the quint summit will be held upon the invitation of Sisi and under the framework of coordination among nations.

The summit chiefly aims to serve common Arab work and promote Arab-Arab relations in the face of international and regional challenges.

In the past few months, meetings of several Arab leaders were held in different locations.

In June, Egypt, Bahrain, and Jordan agreed in a summit held in Sharm El-Sheikh on the importance of strengthening ties between the three nations to “the highest levels”, especially amid the international and regional challenges.

During the summit, Sisi said Egypt aspires to further cooperation with Bahrain and Jordan to achieve the common interests of the peoples of the three nations as well as boost joint Arab action, particularly amid great challenges of multiple regional and international developments.

The Bahraini and Jordanian kings praised "the inextricable" ties binding the three countries, stressing their keenness to elevate cooperation with Egypt to the level of strategic partnership.

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Iraq Farmers Turn to Groundwater to Boost Desert Yield

Iraqi farmer Hadi Saheb says he is cultivating 20 times more land than before in the Najaf desert thanks to groundwater and a government initiative. Qassem al-KAABI / AFP
Iraqi farmer Hadi Saheb says he is cultivating 20 times more land than before in the Najaf desert thanks to groundwater and a government initiative. Qassem al-KAABI / AFP
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Iraq Farmers Turn to Groundwater to Boost Desert Yield

Iraqi farmer Hadi Saheb says he is cultivating 20 times more land than before in the Najaf desert thanks to groundwater and a government initiative. Qassem al-KAABI / AFP
Iraqi farmer Hadi Saheb says he is cultivating 20 times more land than before in the Najaf desert thanks to groundwater and a government initiative. Qassem al-KAABI / AFP

Farmer Hadi Saheb cannot wait to see his wheat fields flourish in the heart of the desert after he tapped into groundwater reserves in water-starved Iraq.

He is just one of many Iraqis who have turned to drilling wells in the desert to help sustain the country's agriculture, AFP said.

It is a risky move that threatens to deplete the groundwater in a nation already battered by frequent drought and scarce rainfall.

Although Iraq's fertile plains traditionally stretch along the once-mighty Tigris and Euphrates -- the two rivers whose levels have plummeted -- Saheb's vast lands lie in the heart of the southern Najaf desert.

"Year after year the drought worsens, and the desertification intensifies," said the 46-year-old, dressed in a white abaya as a duststorm swept through the area.

So he has turned to groundwater, taking advantage of a government initiative.

This leases desert land to farmers at a symbolic price of one dollar per dunum (0.25 hectares in Iraq's measurement), provides subsidized irrigation systems, and buys their harvest at a preferential rate.

Now that he doesn't have to rely solely on rainfall, Saheb said he cultivates 20 times more land than before, and his harvest has increased to 250 tons.

"It would be impossible to continue without groundwater, which we cannot extract without drilling wells," he said.

Like many other farmers, Saheb has upgraded his irrigation techniques.

'Strategic reserve'

He now relies on a center-pivot method involving equipment rotating in a circle to water crops through sprinklers.

This uses at least 50 percent less water than flooding -- the vastly more wasteful traditional way used for millennia, during which the land is submerged.

According to the agriculture ministry, Iraq cultivated 3.1 million dunums (775,000 hectares) this winter using groundwater and modern irrigation systems, while the rivers watered only two million dunums.

In Najaf, desert farming has expanded significantly.

According to Moneim Shahid from Najaf's agriculture authorities, crop yields have been boosted by new irrigation methods, tougher seeds and fertilizers suitable for arid soils.

Shahid said he expects a harvest in Najaf this year of at least 1.7 tons of wheat per dunum in the desert, compared with 1.3 tons in areas irrigated by rivers.

Last year Iraq had a very good harvest, exceeding self-sufficiency with a production of 6.4 million tons of wheat, according to agriculture ministry figures.

Religious institutions such as the Imam Hussein Shrine in the holy city of Karbala back the authorities and also support desert farming.

Qahtan Awaz from the shrine's agriculture department said the institution, which employs families to farm desert areas, is cultivating 1,000 hectares and aims to more than triple that amount.

Today, groundwater reservoirs help mitigate agricultural losses caused by drought, an already frequent phenomenon in Iraq that is worsened by a warming planet.

But preserving those resources is proving to be a challenge.

Shahid from Najaf's agriculture authorities, said "we should be vigilant" in protecting groundwater, calling it "a strategic reserve for future generations".

Its use "should be rationed ... and sprinklers could help regulate consumption", he said.

Depleting supplies

The Najaf desert lies above the Umm el-Radhuma and the Dammam aquifers.

Water levels in both aquifers have declined, according to the United Nations which has also voiced caution that aquifers worldwide are depleting faster than they can be replenished naturally.

Sameh al-Muqdadi, a water politics and climate security expert, warned that Iraq's groundwater levels have already dropped.

Water used to be found 50 or 100 meters deep (165-330 feet), but today wells are dug 300 meters deep, he said.

"People believe that these resources will stay forever... which is not true," Muqdadi warned.

Authorities have no estimates for Iraq's groundwater, and the most recent figures date back to the 1970s, he said.

"If you don't have any estimation, you cannot manage your resources."

"Groundwater is a contingency measure, and it should be used only in urgent cases" such as droughts "to sustain food security only", not to expand farmland for commercial purposes, Muqdadi said.

But unfortunately, "this is what we have nowadays".