Msafiri Daudi Mbaga

Recreational Value of an Oasis in Oman

Increasing demand for water to develop non-agricultural activities is causing water to be diverted to high-value uses at the expense of irrigation. However, agriculture provides a flow of amenities in the desert environment which are not either accounted or paid. Oases are spread all over the globe and are threatened for various reasons among which is the high pressure of demand for fresh water. This paper estimates the recreation use value of an oasis. The paper is based on the Misfat Al-Abryeen oasis in Oman, a man-made area of streams and woodland. The travel cost method is used through an on-site questionnaire distributed to 230 visitors. Around 75% of visitors to the oasis also visited other historical or ecological sites during the same day-trip. The econometric model is estimated using negative binomial regression with endogenous stratification. The average consumer surplus, or benefit, from visiting Misfat Al-Abryeen is estimated at US

Fishermen Willingness to Participate in an Insurance Program in Oman

104.74 per individual per trip. The total social benefit from this oasis is estimated at

Alternative mechanisms for achieving food security in Oman

366,590 per year. These results underscore the importance of the role played by irrigated agriculture in the provision of amenity services for the tourism sector in a desert environment. The sustainability of the irrigation activity depends on the recognition of the recreation role of oases and the transfer of part of these benefits to the farmers who maintain the irrigation system. The implementation of an entrance fee to the oasis might increase farmers’ profit by 6–21%.

The Potential Economic Loss to the Oman Economy as a Result of Exporting Unprocessed Fish

This study is based on a survey of 210 fishermen in Oman to investigate their willingness to pay (WTP) for and enroll in an insurance scheme. The survey was designed to evaluate fishermens willingness to adopt a safety measures program. Most fishermen showed a low level of prudence except for community controlled measures. Actually, 82% of fishermen fish in groups rather than individually, 98% inform their families about the site where they are going to fish, and 76% listen to the weather forecast before leaving. A linear and a Logit model were used in this study. Results from the linear model show that virtually all the socioeconomic, boat characteristics, attitudinal, and wealth variables are important in explaining the amount of the insurance premium the fishermen are willing to pay for; however, only a few variables were significant in the Logit model. Overall, 52% of the respondents indicated WTP for insurance, which is a clear indication that the demand for insurance is substantial. The estimated annual insurance premium varies between Rials Omani (RO) 23.13 and RO 29.25, depending on whether it is a voluntary or legally required. WTP is estimated at RO 18.7.

Evaluation of the 2006–2008 Food Crisis on Household Welfare: The Case of the Sultanate of Oman

Food security exists when every person has physical and economic access at all times to healthy and nutritious food in sufficient quantity. There are three fundamental pillars in achieving food security. The first is food availability, second is access to food – economic and physical access – and the third pillar is food utilization. In terms of food availability (the first pillar) today, the world is food secure and statistics shows that global grain prices are less costly in real terms than at any time in recent decades. The second pillar is critical at the national and household levels. At the national level, Oman produces only a fraction of the food it consumes 3#8211; most of the food, especially grains and red meat, are imported. Land and water scarcity are among the leading constraints to agricultural production such that by 2050 Oman is expected to depend solely on imports to meet food security needs. The third pillar is the utilization of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and healthcare to reach a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met. Focusing on the two food security pillars (food availability and access to food), this paper proposes three alternative mechanisms for achieving food security in Oman. The three mechanisms proposed are the formation of a National Food Trading Company, setting up an efficient Strategic Grain Reserve System along the lines suggested by the World Bank, and the promotion of private-sector participation in the importation of grain and other critical food commodities. These proposed mechanisms are general and therefore can be easily applied to other Gulf Cooperation Council countries with minor modifications.

The Potential of Transforming Salalah into Oman’s Vegetables Basket

This article attempts to estimate the loss in economic activity to the Oman economy resulting from exporting unprocessed fish. Because of the lack of data to compute the necessary multipliers, we use multipliers from other sources. Results show that if fish exported between 2003 and 2007 had been processed in Oman, 479.7 to 829.5 million Rials in economic activity could have been generated. Furthermore, between 2003 and 2007, if all the unprocessed fish exported had been processed locally, between 0.874 and 1.818 billion Rials increase in income could have been generated, with an additional income of up to 1.594 billion Rials through induced effects. Also for every person the fish processing industries could have employed (if all fish processing took place locally) between three to five jobs could have been created economy wide. These results, however, must be taken only as broad indicators because of the lack of multiplier data in Oman.

Potential of camel meat as a non-traditional high quality source of protein for human consumption

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of high food prices during the 2006–2008 food crisis period on the welfare of households in the Sultanate of Oman. The welfare impacts of price changes are estimated using the Hicksian compensating variation (CV) methodology. The compensating variation was estimated for 4 different income household groups as well as two location groups (urban-rural). Results suggest that all household groups suffered welfare losses due to the food crisis. On average, Omani households need to be compensated about 10.3% of their income for the price increase they experienced during the 2006–2008 period. Rural households are more affected than urban households with a required compensation of 12.4% and 9.87%, respectively. In all cases most of the impact is felt on the first round where no consumption adjustment is made; the second round effect is comparatively small compared to the first-order effect. Total compensation required to compensate all households amounts to O.R. 266 M, that is, a 1.14% of GDP, whereas a compensation targeted to the low-income quartile amounts only to O.R. 26.7 M representing 0.1% of GDP.

Complementarity between agriculture and tourism towards sustainability.

Agriculture in the Sultanate of Oman is mostly small scale and is a part of the traditional way of life. The majority of the population benefit from agriculture, however little. The 67 % of the population was in households that had at least one crop or livestock holding where the output contributed to consumption or income. Since the year 2000, the Government spent Rial Omani (RO) 20.1 million on agriculture and fishery development, and another RO 39.4 million on water resources development. Furthermore, the government encourages farming by offering land, machinery, and extension services. However, during the period 2000 till 2007, crop production has in fact gone down. In other words, despite being a capital rich country, substantial investment in agriculture, it is increasingly becoming a food insecure country. An in-depth analysis of Oman’s agricultural sub-sectors shows that, household sub-sector contributed 27 % of the total value. Primary crop production in Oman in 2005/2007 was 486.872 metric tons of which contribution of fruits and vegetables were 353,072 metric tons and 102,606 respectively. In comparison, only 26,206 metric tons of cereals were produced. The value of production of cereals and vegetables were 7.8 and 17.6 million RO respectively. This comparison confirms that Omanis prefer producing high value vegetables to cereal crops. In addition to vegetables produced locally, Oman imported 148,345 metric tons during the same period. Therefore, it is interesting to explore, if vegetable production in Oman can be further increased, resulting in increased income and near self-sufficiency in vegetables. If Oman chooses to increase vegetable production, then it has to come from a major shift in its current land and water use practices, because almost all of its cultivable lands and available freshwater are fully utilized at present. In this chapter we explored if the Salalah region of Oman could be transformed into Oman’s vegetable basket, leading to self-sufficiency in its vegetable needs.