US embassy cable - 03ABUDHABI3593

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