Chris’ notes from the meeting with Adel’s Dad

Notes from Chris, meeting with Abu Adel, 30 January

Both the muntafa3in and the mustasmer were given the land in ‘87

39 muntafa3in with 6 feddan each – all from Dakhla

13 mustasmer (private investors) – from various areas of
Egypt – who pay either 184 or 220 EGP/year/feddan, the amount of ‘rent’ depends on the quality of land which was rated by the government before the establishment of the community

- after twenty years there is a tax, the regular Egyptian tax, for the muntafa3in and they will then be the technical owners of the land, for now there is an ‘ist, essentially they pay rent for the land. There are two more years before this tax begins.

-the land cannot change name while under the ‘ist, it is in the family name (if the husband has died the name goes to either the wife or children) – of course, some people have ‘rented’ their land to another person, so they collect the money and then pay the official rent to the government [two levels of activity here]

-the investor land is the same as the muntafa3in, it stays in the name of the original investor, but because the plots of land are larger (20 feddan is the largest portion at bir wahed) they have divided and rented out more of the land to more people.

-only 5 of the original muntafa3in have left (and rented there land) out of the original group

-Chris has to translate his hieroglyphics: mesool? If there is a problem with the system Abu Adel calls the mesool? in Farafra and they call Kharga, then Cairo

Interview with Ramadan (Bir 1)

Ramadan is originally from Dakhla and completed an agricultural degree there. He came to Abu Minqar to cultivate his uncle’s land in Bir 1. His father and uncle purchased 6 feddan of land each in Abu Minqar 19 years ago. As the uncle now lives in Dakhla, Ramadan and his father cultivate the combined 12 feddan the family owns. Because it is such a large plot of land, they share 6 feddan with other farmers. Under this arrangement,

Ramadan pays 200 pounds per year per 6 feddan to the government, Ramadan pays 50% of the cost for fertilizers and seeds for the shared land, while taking 50% of the harvest in return (this can be either the actual field crop or the revenue from selling the crop on the market). Sharing agreements such as this one are common in Abu Minqar, and are established mostly in an ad hoc way. Land owners ask around in the neighbourhood if anyone would be interested in sharing land.

                                                                                                                        

Ramadan does not separate the date palm seedlings, as he wants 3 to 4 trees to grow on one stem. Date palm seedlings in the oasis are comparatively cheap, costing L.E. 10 pounds per seedling. By comparison, in
Cairo a small seedling costs around 120 L.E., for a larger tree up to L.E. 300.

Salwa Hodda Family History

Interview with Ahmad and his Dad, January 2007

The Qabilat al Rashayda family has been in
Egypt for around 100 years. In about 1880, the Salwa and Hodda family’s ancestors were living in
Saudi Arabia. When there was a war in Saudi Arabia that involved Malek Abdel Aziz (from the el Seoud family), many people left and fled through Sudan to
Sohag, Egypt. Here, they lived a Nomad lifestyle, traveling with tents and camels. Under President Sadat, the Bedouin population of
Egypt was made to take on the Egyptian nationality, and was given land to settle down. In return, Bedouins had to start taking over all responsibilities that were expected from other Egyptian citizens, as for example attending military service. Thus, Ahmad’s ancestors became ‘Egyptians’ in the 1970s. During this time (? Or earlier??), Sanduq el Badya, a Bedouin from the Qabilat el Rashayda visited Egypt from Saudi Arabia each year to provide Bedouins in Egypt with food and other goods they required for living. Nowadays, the Qabilat el Rashayda family is spread as widely as Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Kuwait and
Saudi Arabia. In Bir 5 and 7 in Abu Minqar, most Bedouins are from the family of the Qabilat el Rashayda. The people of Bir 4, on the other hand, are members of a different Bedouin family, the Qabilat el Massau’d. According to Ahmad’s father, the two Bedouin families differ in custom. For example, one family (the Qabilat el Massau’d) allows for marriages between uncles and their young nieces, while the other family would discourage this practice. Also, the Qabilat el Rashayda keeps track of all births and marriages (according to Ahmad’s father, there is a book kept in Bir 4, in which all family developments such as births and marriages are recorded). The Bedouin dialect, however, does not differ much between the two families.

Interview gam3a zar3a in Dakhla

Interview on 29 Jan 2007

Mut, Dakhla

Ustaz Gaber

Has been working for the gam3a zar3a in Dakhla for 17 years

This particular gam3a in Dakhla has 540 members. These members pay L.E. 1 (per month? can’t read my notes here…) for their membership. There is a total of 19 agricultural cooperatives in Dakhla. Each of these has one manager, such as Ustaz Gaber.

The gam3a provides fertilizer (asmidda) – such as Superphosphat, Yuria and Natarat – as well as seeds and pesticides. The Superphosphat is produced by a company in Cairo (Abu Za’abel), the Yuria and Natarat come from Alexandria (from the company Abu Ir). In terms of seeds, the gam3a provides wheat and rice (rice in winter), the prices of these vary all the time. In case farmers require other types of seeds, they have to buy these independently.

The cooperative also rents out machines for spraying pesticides at L.E. 10 per tank. It also rents out machines for other agricultural practices (garar, makinat zara3, gars tahsien). It buys most crops off farmers, for example rice etc. If farmers want to sell their produce in Cairo, Assiut, etc, it is easiest to go through the network of the cooperative.

The gam3a does not employ a government engineer. It operates independently from the government. (ahaly, mish hukuma). Things like lining canals or drilling wells are clear government responsibilities and have nothing to do with the operation of the gam3a. The cooperative works together with other cooperatives in Kharga and Farafra, as these all operate under the same system. There is no cooperation with Abu Minqar, because the gam3a in Abu Minqar is largely dysfunctional.

There is also an agricultural bank in each village within the oasis of Dakhla, which  provides fertilizers. It does not provide seeds or pesticides. The bank buys wheat off farmers, but does not buy any other crops.