Abstract

In order to develop a sustainable date palm production system in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of the Arabian Peninsula, an analysis of the date value chain in these countries was undertaken. Through the mapping of the chain, the overall objective was to identify the processes where values are created and how they are distributed among stakeholders along the entire date palm value chain. The method used in this analysis was based on an assessment of the data gathered from the multi-stakeholder surveys implemented in the three case studies of the GCC countries: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Oman, and Kuwait. The empirical findings reveal several problems and constraints that might affect the future of the GCC date palm sector. Therefore, development of a competitive supply date palm chain (both market and agribusiness development) could provide a greater contribution to the GCC economy if producers paid more attention to marketing of this very important food commodity. Hence, date palm production is no longer a way of life but nowadays is considered as an investment option and source of revenues for many stakeholders if the GCC region.

Highlights

  • Date palm cultivation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Kingdom of Bahrain) has a long history, yet the efforts exerted by the individual countries on its research and development, significant, are still insufficient and fall below expectations

  • We provide a description of the actual situation for the date palm value chain in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, while providing strategic short term perspectives for a more effective and inclusive date palm market sector, constraints and challenges that have to be taken into account as well as proposed strategies to enhance systemic changes in the sector necessary to progress towards more solid and sustainable date palm value chain in the GCC

  • Through the mapping of the chain, the overall objective of this study is to identify the processes where values are created and how they are distributed among stakeholders along the date palm value chain

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Summary

Introduction

Date palm cultivation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Kingdom of Bahrain) has a long history, yet the efforts exerted by the individual countries on its research and development, significant, are still insufficient and fall below expectations. To address the above mentioned constrains, the GCC countries ranked date palm as one of the high research priority as reflected in priority setting for agricultural research in the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region [1] In this regards, the project “Development of sustainable date palm production systems in the GCC countries of the Arabian Peninsula”, funded by the GCC Secretariat, was implemented, in partnership, by various ministries of agriculture, agricultural authorities, and agricultural research institutions and universities in the six GCC countries of the Arabian Peninsula (Kingdom of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, State of Kuwait, State of Qatar, Sultanate of Oman, and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - KSA) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). The major objectives of the project are to improve date palm productivity per unit of water and rationalize the use of the available resources in order to make production sustainable

Objectives of the study
Date palm production
Domestic consumption
Livestock feeding use
Domestic market and structure
Marketing channels of dates
Example of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia marketing channel for dates
Exports market channels
International date palm markets and opportunities for GCC countries
Data sources and data collection
Methodological framework
Challenges and constraints in the date palm value chain in the GCC countries
Farming practices: farmer education and farming management practices
Variety selection
Post-harvest handling improvements
Processing and value added for date products
National markets
International markets
Findings
Concluding remarks, policy implications, and recommendations
Full Text
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