impact assessment, and characterizing the food production
systems in target sites, while also viewing the productivity
and economic losses in the face of the effects of climate
change in the region.
1.2.5 Food Security
Healthy soils are the foundation of the food system and are
necessary to produce healthy food to achieve food security
in the country. Zurqani et al. (2019) reported that Libya
imports approximately 80% of its food consumption
requirement (e.g., wheat flour, corn oil, and milk). Quite
recently, food prices continuously increased, where the cost
of main food commodities increased on average by 15% in
October 2018 when compared to the same month in 2017
(World Food Programme 2018). Furthermore, the
Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (2018) reported that most
households spend over 50% of their expenditure on food.
This insecurity of food is driven by the lack of economic
access, not food availability, and varies greatly among the
administrative districts of the country. Where in the
south-east region of the country, almost 70% of the households are food insecure. Food demand is expected to significantly increase in forthcoming decades due to accelerated
population growth, expected to be approximately 1%
annually (Zurqani et al. 2019). Libya must prioritize combatting soil degradation. Lately, massive amounts of fertile
agricultural land in Libya are degraded because of soil erosion, salinity, nutrient depletion, pollution, and the other
climate change-related extreme weather events. Out of the
2.1 million hectares of land suitable for agriculture, 1.8
million hectares are classified as arable and 300,000 ha
under permanent crops, mostly fruit trees (FAO 2019).
The Libyan government should make this issue a priority
by increasing investment in holistic approaches to building
healthy soils. Yet several steps need to be done to ensure
healthy soils and thus food security (e.g., support agricultural promotion policy strategies to reverse widespread soil
degradation; creating a map of the health status of the
country’s soils where these data can be used to inform
policies and develop recommendations for Libyan farmers
about best practices and which fertilizers and seeds to use;
etc.).
1.3 Conclusions
Soil is a finite resource, and its loss and degradation are not
recoverable within a human lifespan. Without healthy soils,
we would not be able to grow our food. This chapter provides a brief introduction about the soils of Libya and
illustrates the soil-related challenges that currently the
country is facing, which need to be addressed to improve the
availability of services to support human needs. Erosions,
salinization, land degradation, and climate change are the
largest challenges that currently are facing soils and future
agricultural development in Libya. The new geospatial
technology such as Google Earth Engine can be used to
continuously monitor these environmental disturbances to
help provide the best possible management strategies that
might be able to react to and mitigate the consequences of
these disturbances.
The harsh climatic conditions and poor soils limit agricultural output, where domestic food production meets only
about 25% of Libyans’ demand. The country has recently
underscored the importance of implementing a food security
monitoring and governance system. To do this, the government should put in place legal frameworks to regulate the
use of soil resources. In particular, farmers should be educated about and encouraged to adopt these proposed soil
health-building practices. Also, the continuous support at the
country level from both public and private institutions is
essential to make these sustainable practices in the long term.
Acknowledgements The author acknowledges Dr. Naji Shoaib,
Abdalla Adda, and Mohamed Alwasa for providing selected photos
with their permissions to use them in this chapter.
References
Banana AA, Al-Gheethib AA, Nomanc EA, RMSR M (2017)
Assessment of soil pollution by toxic metals and petrochemical
compounds in western Libya. Desalination Water Treat 83, 272–
276.
https://doi.org/10.5004/dwt.2017.20781,
https://www.
deswater.com/DWT_abstracts/vol_83/83_2017_272.pdf
Ben Mahmoud KR (1995) Libyan soils (their genesis, classification,
properties, and agriculture potentiality), 1st edn. National Research
Scientific Organization, Tripoli Libya (in Arabic)
CEDARE (2014) Libya Water Sector M&E Rapid Assessment Report.
Monitoring and Evaluation for Water in North Africa (MEWINA)
project, Water Resources Management Program, CEDARE. https://
www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.
info/files/assessments/libya_water_sector_me_rapid_assessment_
2014.pdf. Accessed 2 Sept 2020
Choroma M, Hosseini SS, Motamedi H (2010) Bioremediation of crude
oil polluted soil as affected by sewage-sludge. Paper presented at:
19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing
World, Brisbane, Australia. https://iuss.org/19th%20WCSS/
Symposium/pdf/0691.pdf
Environment General Authority (EGA) (2002) The first environmental
report. Tripoli, Libya
Environment General Authority (EGA) (2008) National Strategy for
Sustainable Development report. Tripoli, Libya
FAO, GIEWS—Global Information and Early Warning System,
Country Briefs, Libya. 2019 Feb [cited 2019 Mar 12]. https://
www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=LBY
FAO (2015) Status of the World’s Soil Resources (SWSR)–Main
Report. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
and Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, Rome, Italy, 650.
https://www.fao.org/3/a-i5199e.pdf
10
H. A. Zurqani
systems in target sites, while also viewing the productivity
and economic losses in the face of the effects of climate
change in the region.
1.2.5 Food Security
Healthy soils are the foundation of the food system and are
necessary to produce healthy food to achieve food security
in the country. Zurqani et al. (2019) reported that Libya
imports approximately 80% of its food consumption
requirement (e.g., wheat flour, corn oil, and milk). Quite
recently, food prices continuously increased, where the cost
of main food commodities increased on average by 15% in
October 2018 when compared to the same month in 2017
(World Food Programme 2018). Furthermore, the
Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (2018) reported that most
households spend over 50% of their expenditure on food.
This insecurity of food is driven by the lack of economic
access, not food availability, and varies greatly among the
administrative districts of the country. Where in the
south-east region of the country, almost 70% of the households are food insecure. Food demand is expected to significantly increase in forthcoming decades due to accelerated
population growth, expected to be approximately 1%
annually (Zurqani et al. 2019). Libya must prioritize combatting soil degradation. Lately, massive amounts of fertile
agricultural land in Libya are degraded because of soil erosion, salinity, nutrient depletion, pollution, and the other
climate change-related extreme weather events. Out of the
2.1 million hectares of land suitable for agriculture, 1.8
million hectares are classified as arable and 300,000 ha
under permanent crops, mostly fruit trees (FAO 2019).
The Libyan government should make this issue a priority
by increasing investment in holistic approaches to building
healthy soils. Yet several steps need to be done to ensure
healthy soils and thus food security (e.g., support agricultural promotion policy strategies to reverse widespread soil
degradation; creating a map of the health status of the
country’s soils where these data can be used to inform
policies and develop recommendations for Libyan farmers
about best practices and which fertilizers and seeds to use;
etc.).
1.3 Conclusions
Soil is a finite resource, and its loss and degradation are not
recoverable within a human lifespan. Without healthy soils,
we would not be able to grow our food. This chapter provides a brief introduction about the soils of Libya and
illustrates the soil-related challenges that currently the
country is facing, which need to be addressed to improve the
availability of services to support human needs. Erosions,
salinization, land degradation, and climate change are the
largest challenges that currently are facing soils and future
agricultural development in Libya. The new geospatial
technology such as Google Earth Engine can be used to
continuously monitor these environmental disturbances to
help provide the best possible management strategies that
might be able to react to and mitigate the consequences of
these disturbances.
The harsh climatic conditions and poor soils limit agricultural output, where domestic food production meets only
about 25% of Libyans’ demand. The country has recently
underscored the importance of implementing a food security
monitoring and governance system. To do this, the government should put in place legal frameworks to regulate the
use of soil resources. In particular, farmers should be educated about and encouraged to adopt these proposed soil
health-building practices. Also, the continuous support at the
country level from both public and private institutions is
essential to make these sustainable practices in the long term.
Acknowledgements The author acknowledges Dr. Naji Shoaib,
Abdalla Adda, and Mohamed Alwasa for providing selected photos
with their permissions to use them in this chapter.
References
Banana AA, Al-Gheethib AA, Nomanc EA, RMSR M (2017)
Assessment of soil pollution by toxic metals and petrochemical
compounds in western Libya. Desalination Water Treat 83, 272–
276.
https://doi.org/10.5004/dwt.2017.20781,
https://www.
deswater.com/DWT_abstracts/vol_83/83_2017_272.pdf
Ben Mahmoud KR (1995) Libyan soils (their genesis, classification,
properties, and agriculture potentiality), 1st edn. National Research
Scientific Organization, Tripoli Libya (in Arabic)
CEDARE (2014) Libya Water Sector M&E Rapid Assessment Report.
Monitoring and Evaluation for Water in North Africa (MEWINA)
project, Water Resources Management Program, CEDARE. https://
www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.
info/files/assessments/libya_water_sector_me_rapid_assessment_
2014.pdf. Accessed 2 Sept 2020
Choroma M, Hosseini SS, Motamedi H (2010) Bioremediation of crude
oil polluted soil as affected by sewage-sludge. Paper presented at:
19th World Congress of Soil Science, Soil Solutions for a Changing
World, Brisbane, Australia. https://iuss.org/19th%20WCSS/
Symposium/pdf/0691.pdf
Environment General Authority (EGA) (2002) The first environmental
report. Tripoli, Libya
Environment General Authority (EGA) (2008) National Strategy for
Sustainable Development report. Tripoli, Libya
FAO, GIEWS—Global Information and Early Warning System,
Country Briefs, Libya. 2019 Feb [cited 2019 Mar 12]. https://
www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=LBY
FAO (2015) Status of the World’s Soil Resources (SWSR)–Main
Report. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
and Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, Rome, Italy, 650.
https://www.fao.org/3/a-i5199e.pdf
10
H. A. Zurqani