Cultivating the Desert: Agronomic and Social Analysis of Production Systems in the Oasis of al-ʿUlā, Saudi Arabia

Between heritage and transformation: Oasis agriculture in al-ʿUlā through the lens of contemporary reconfigurations.

This extensively illustrated publication offers an unprecedented scientific overview of oasis agriculture and livestock farming in the region of al-ʿUlā in Saudi Arabia. It outlines the various closely interlinked dimensions that shape local systems of production: not only agronomic factors, but also social and economic considerations, as well as the wide range of practices and knowledge in which these are rooted.

Through this exploration of rural dynamics in al-ʿUlā, this report sheds light on the quiet transformations experienced by this oasis, whose history goes back thousands of years, as it encounters the upheavals of the contemporary world.

This report draws on the data collected by the CNRS research project al-ʿUlā Anthropological Survey (2019–2024), combining the ethnographic work conducted throughout the duration of the project, covering the whole of society in al-ʿUlā, with the results of a detailed agronomic study conducted by Elise Gaury (CNRS engineer) on a selective sample of agricultural holdings.

Saudi Arabia has experienced several major waves of change. The redistribution of a proportion of the country’s oil revenue at the beginning of the 1980s unleashed a wave that profoundly altered Saudis’ way of life, as well as their relationship with the land and with work. These changes also dramatically reshaped oasis agriculture in the region of al-ʿUlā. Yields from arable and pastoral farming, previously the only source of subsistence, now appear to be increasingly relegated to the role of secondary family income stream, although they have not become entirely insignificant, or lost their social, economic, and identity-reinforcing roles.

This fieldwork reveals the coexistence of several different production systems within al-ʿUlā oasis agriculture. An agronomic analysis of these different systems clarifies the extent to which oasis agriculture currently contributes to the economic reproduction of household groups and of oasis society more widely. Using a systematic data collection methodology, developed throughout the research period, this study analyses the combination of cropping systems at the production unit level, which then form production systems. It identifies six production systems used in al-ʿUlā, which are paired to form three categories: Low Diversification Systems, High Diversification Systems, and Capitalistic Farm Systems. The case studies in this report illustrate the profitability of each system, distinguishing systems with a social function – where the gross financial margins contribute to the reproduction of the household, without being sufficient on their own – from systems with a socioeconomic function, where the yields are sufficient to ensure that reproduction.

Finally, this report is underpinned by a selective inventory of the plants cultivated and animals raised by the inhabitants of the region of al-ʿUlā, designed to be as exhaustive as possible while remaining relevant, including inherited local species, varieties, and breeds, as well as those that have been more recently introduced. This inventory reflects the past and present choices of oasis-dwelling and pastoral populations, and it shows how they shape their coexistence with non-human species in the unique agroecosystems of the Saudi desert.

The report is based on a set of agricultural techno-economic data from the project al-ʿUlā Anthropological Survey, which is likewise available in open access on Zenodo:

• al-ʿUlā Oasis Agriculture: Agronomic Survey Dataset (Saudi Arabia, 2019–2024)
• DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17011913. 

https://vbat.org/article1049.html