Scandinavian Institute of African Studies 1969

(1)

Scandinavian Institute of African Studies 1969

no .

esea

re ort

. Lars Eldblom

Land Tenure-

SociaI Organization and

Structure

(2)

Research Report No.

4

Lars Eldblom

LAl'JD TENURE - SOCIAL ORGANISATION AND STRUCTUPcE

A comparative sample study of the socio-economic life in the three Libyan oases of Ghat, Mourzouk and Ghadames

The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1st edition 1969

2nd edition 1971

(3)

Pre:face

This research report is asurnmary o:f a dissertation :for the degree o:f

Ph. D. - STRUCTURE FONCIER~. ORGANISA~

TION ET STRUCTURE SOCIALE; Une etude comparative sur la vie socio-econo- mique dans les trois oasis libyennes de Ghat, Mourzouk et iculierement Ghadames.

(The Royal University o:f Lund, Sweden

De Ge

UNISKOL, LUND l

(4)

LAND TENURE - SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE A comparative sample study of the socio-aconomic

life in the thrae Dasas of Ghat~ Mourzouk and Ghadames

by

LARS ELDBLOM

The aim of the present, comparative, deta~led study has been to elucidate as far as possible the

different. eeonomic systems, social struetures and organization of the ttU'ee Libyan oases of Gh'adames, Ghat and Mourzouk. Already from a re latively super-, fieia1 investigation i t is easy to ascertain that these communities differ great from each other in

to their exterior :formt s is a compact closed oasis' - an 11island" surrounded by a sea of

ica1 s ri1e , gravel and rocks; Mourzouk is a scattered oasis, with widely spread cultivated areas, whereas Ghat, final has an intermediate

position with both c and wide spread gardening areas. As has been seen, this is ly a result of the different systems of ion in the oases.

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lifid~, lJmfond-cOljt

Pitts.

1 The (H1Se of the

(5)

2

The interna1 functional organization andmechanism - i.e., how the economic and social (inc1uding

political, religious and cultural) eogs function and interact with each other - are considerably more difficult to analyze.

It is most hazardous to express an opinion as to what extent the externa l form can have exercised a direct influence on the economic and social structure and social organization. However, a certain connec- tion can be detected. Thus, for example. the compact and "closed" community~ Ghadames - which for its existence originally has been ultimately dependent on one single spring - exhibits an exceedingly more regulated and complicated social organization than Mourzouk with its scattered wells and widely spread

eultivation and building structure: the absolute necessity of the water from this single spring in Ghadames together with the practica1ly collective allotment of this water is conceivably the ultimate cause of the consolidation and intricate pattern of the social organization. As a rule, concerning the relation between external and internal structure, i t is probable that the general character of the oases is formed by the i:nterplay of' the externa11 economic and social f'actors~ where the external constitute the foundation on which the economic and social build a richly f'aceted relief'.

The differentiation in pro tary and social structure between these oases shows up glaringlYI in like manner the more or less total decadence of' these communities in all phases of' public life. Local coromerce s t i l l flourishes to a certain extent in Ghadames and Mourzouk, whereas gardening in the former oasis is obviously on the decline. In Ghat and Mourzouk gardening is s t i l l a necessary evil for the subsistenee of' the remaining inhabi tants. In Ghat the major part of the returns go to the weIl-ta-do, exactly as in Bled Mourzouk - although to alesser degree than in Ghat - whereas the smallholders around Mourzouk dispose of their meager harvests themselves. In all the oases the emigration of men in the age groups

15 -

JO and JO -

45

is very high.

GHADAMfS

h.ft<:l,u~

C@mI'lHtr~"'"h-I)tll>IHii'''if<l'$ fondlllff l'ol'lelil!>lHlll!ir,n -

1'<II"QlInIU ~PPOf"nt,j.$ CUlI! _pr0i'ric(~

i<:lh't$ f@l'Ii:i@u. eom""@r~",I'IU <II' fon,- tlo'''I@i ..n. $1 If@voUkll'lt G<:Il'I$~ jcm:lillfS;e

1'''';'1s PfI}PfiJt@!r<!>$ lemu. lflllQU ou d" p,,!miil>u. (l§lIi"i:lft' <IIylt-m~!Il*$

h"H$ t<ll<r<!>.

'<IIHI$ pr"prmreit<o. fOIl<:ifl'n 'U'I'I

@rill'I>l:Iiflll' I'_~h

Ii'i 2 The land t and social differentiat Ghat and Mourzouk

of

(6)

F

J

T

firof}wi@tf.ltrlU io'nci@i'§.. souverli 38 tt@d'T'.rtH~f"t0ilts @u fonct;onnoir8$.

fp'@Hh propdthcif~~ de htUiÖ)$. tf.ou ou 96 Ii" p",lmi"''', cultival'lt '!IlJl<-mliltll""

l..,m; lewu

MOU OUI<

C(lmrr";'f~<l... H ej fondiofl"<:lif"'.

21 pr",priål"ifEt< d.. h'H"!

C"l'I'lm ..r~'HlI§ non "ropr;"!"'i""

tClrres

!'",Hl> I',@p".ol";'''. d ..

''''H'''.

^d''''''ll

<III

;]142 @@ "olm;@,s, ~uHI"..nl "'lJ,,-~m'u It:iUff& t'®iTi'fJf'ä

lass

I. ^t e officials

I r-.

,smal

cials and retail tradesmen and workme.n,

(who vate themsslvss).

(t

labourer).

Mourzouk ) (per cent

8

8,1

1~, (20. ^y

j )

" $7 ^71.

(7)

4

What are the possibilities of economic develo

wi thin these ons? In which sectors of' the economy should one invest? Is:} worthwhile at all to start extensive and expens ve projects or should one

concentrate on smaller limit d relief meBsures?

Concisely expr'essed: ,,,hat is best :for the common people (exclud here mercha:Klts, r public official s and faudal lord ) in these three oases?

I t is ssible to ve an u.necp,dvoeal anen"er to

the~e questions. For allah the differenae between the oases - seen from an economlc, social as weIl as

political point of view ~ is eutire too great. That whleh may seem posslble in the one oasis cannot be coneeivably realized in the second or the third.

However the present detailed st can serve as the basis for a summary evaluation of the possibilities and also certain suggestions eone the direction and most e form of any future aid project.

appears to be ieular complicated. s has been shm~71 is obvious s on the decline less than one third of the present male inhabit s are emp

in this braDch of the ecoDomy. e

of the old cul ivated area is extreme eVen ~nter-

nal one fami group; moreover, each individ-

ual is hi c walls wlliell

any s c zation. The pro etary

status of the l "hl:lbous"¹ \"111ieh

lies tha and that the returns

must be divided the meniliers of -

in many ease groups, with

SO

^to

100 persons Furthermore, the Ain el Fras is d up and the extra eontribution from the "Freneh"

artesian weIl is eutire too small for a realization of an intens:Lfied cultivation. All these ive factors eontribute unde:r' tandab to the situation that the ori o landowners believes that i t is

nr''n',."""f'-j table to t 11 the oil v.ithin the old cultiva-

tion area.

has been a cODceutration of (in the winter 196 2,

c to little more

ctiltivation area). On the

r

(O.S

and

0.2

heotare )

abundant i ion

the HI ianf! artesian wells;

are !!melkl! e owners themselves dispose

to divide them For these reasons

cultivation in the new per cent was cultivat than 7 per cent of the old one hand, the

and the water upp more from the "French" as weIl on the other hand, the owned and therefore the

of their harve thc

th the whole

(8)

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.

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I l ' . 1!il1• • •

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. .

^'"

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..

oa

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^,

• I o...

..

_,

.

· ^.,

lO

J.

Ghad s in l 2 (The map was drawn in 2 ELDBLm'f) •

te the faet that the new cultivation area is 8ubjected to relative intensive culture more than 9 heo areB cultivated land the

er 1-62 and te mor e than il hectares the B and smamer l of total of

hectares available arable land the

mate as cult ted in the old nB

thi i not even for reaBonable Belf-sufficiency the Bent inhabitants of the oaBis aB

mentioned i considerable :foodstuffs

(9)

r

le'guff<0;

LVlc~rne

o ¹⁰⁰

ou

500

N

1 I

I !

1~62

of'

(10)

7

Under the present circumstances i t seems te ss to invest in intensified management. The boring of some more artasian wells would

of aOUrse the amount of arable land, but proportionally the intensity of cultivation would probably not be any than at present: the inhabitants who conceivab CQuld increase the rate of cultivation re Bult in er Ids ~ name the men in the ages of -

45

y~ars have large

ed ,therefore~ the manpower necessary for a new cultivation is in the first

Moreover~ the economic from this gardening~

even with an intensified ian, would b~ entlrely too small to entice theBe B to return to the oasis or to others to remain there.

8eni Ovlid lota!

20 10 () il lO 20

6.

Ghad The left

that is thc e The 1'1

20 Iv ^(l o 10 20

residl;ln! & l:ieni OlJozit

75 60 45 30 15

20 !O o !O 20

at in the

(11)

The dat inb.abitan view but util.ization the frul labori

the work irr\ro

excellen for examp many f tIll new cultivation the consur!)€)

terrible lt Ii

Djebel up o

groupfr, I in the o group I I

t~.nd

8

oas s

in

_>~.",^••_~.~lt road

socio-econorrd of social

ituati.

true of crafts·~·

U.l-H"-U"''''''''S com- inhabi

govern"

Il

(12)

gra.nts^tO

cLt-'<tifictal sid in the form

which communi

essential for tha ve

u~~~u~ull~8 is a complete can con.tinue i t eve mean8 = in

of

its i",e :; arl trlteJ],sif~ie~j

ucts intend

In contrast to s a ver;,r _largf~ per cent

o.

per cent - 01 the male inhabitants

are emo ed in as smallholders

(more than 20 per cent), s leaseholders or day laborers (.almost

47

per ceI1t)~ The isolated location f the oasis ~ k.m of' miserable ^II ste^ll up ^to S , p l u s ^a.Xl addl lonal l 000 km of as l ^t road to Tripoli = preeludes at present an)' possibili.

of for exp(n"t;. Over and above the ^<3 the economy is total decadent: the IDeal eommeree is irrs fieant al".d the Handieraft is dominated about ten smiths the central oasis (Tadramt<oGhat) whose less artistic uets nevertheless find the way to Sebha and fu:r·ther e"llen up o Tripoli. The possibili ties of a posi tive conomie develv,,,,,,,,,;;,,

therefore lie entire an section.

o ¹ ^:5 ^km,

L_~_L_ _i-_ _-.-L...,.~_L_,<._~1

5th~~t~H.@f tH;gmrf'l(j~$ a

\1fopl<>Id"" fjQ';hl"ncl;l'c

(13)

An inc (~

concerned;

km north:west of and w(~l

should on

"On pEl

cul De

sta~tement

and land st and

ion tion the

worthwlli weIl

under cul f;!ati fac problem9

o ter supp tra.l oasis:

er n\:rmbar of however, tha belie:f.' that

tiers seulement des 100s,les di le

de moit tivement mi

co:nsidered

(14)

I l

Ghat - SQfKot toto! nhidtll'lfi) Gnot-

oomm,11$

"krnrn..

hom"l'.~ 75 fomml!lll

:b _3O~l

^{.. 5}^~'l30

l .

15n

_l _l i5

20 10. ^{) ^{) 10 20 :lO 10 ^(l ^{l 10 :lO

Gh;;;l 101(31 r;sidonl OGhat

"~

⁷⁵

60 60

"u, JDf

^! ⁴⁵

l50

¹⁵

10 10 O O 10 :lO 20 10 {; O 10 :lO

Barkat 10101 r';;;;dont o 8mkai

75 75

<10 <10

45 45

30 30

15 15

10 Hl (; {) to ~() 20 10 ⁽⁾ () to 20

• 8. Ghat: ^El in 1962-6) .

1'lhat possibilitiBs exlst then for an increased cultivation? Lefranc asserts that the best method would be to e the innumerable smal1~ almost

dried-up w~th a of in

each oasis. Accord to a brief outlined five- year 12 wells wou1d be bored in the Ghat provided with pes~ water reservoirs

~~d canals: J would be ed in Tounin~ 2 in Feouet, l in ~ l in Tf n G eraben~ 2 in Iberkan and J tu Barkat (see survey map in

7~ p. 9). In addition mesaure wera proposed for an of the parcels es artifictelles^{u )} to enable cantsation ^11$ a better selec- tion of Beed and l e . intensified cultiva-

ion of vegetable and frul Lefranc conclude with the hopeful aSBump that:

ons sation

ur les autres

fait utili

vast s ressources

(15)

The

aspect t devoted les mentioned the However, i t

complex - of

slve role the pos ibil of the common

workers , The present

social st the

12

ven:Lr,

a

:i.rriPl)rtaIlte dans

If { "\ j-J.J...JF'l'·PA.~ \. ·Zl.l~"Tf'...

a tEwhrdcal i ~ of cours ,

conomic~social

,.. he has ion.

the 'if/ater relations

and

11-

(16)

t~11e:rrnG1.""~3^J alrno

l;f1"1i.C-ll

Ac ord to the

managel11l'H1t in ma.)" appe in

:from the circ the

J (c

han

aband

(17)

l(1"'11<11<>

D"I@lJ DalolJ II

O"I~1J !!l

F

1)"1<:,,, Ii

l

l km.

N

( bJuLI U.LI'Yi ' I

(18)

In an earlier ie ion the author - as like weIl as DOUCHEZ - has studied more in detail the teehnical and eeonomical conditions necessary for an increased installation of motor pumps in Fezzau? ieularly Bled Mourzouk. The results ⁰¹ this investigation

emphasize the disadvantage in aueh a measure. Techni- cal i t is possible within large s ⁰¹ the

but economical i t seems absolutely ssible for most 01 the growers to rinanee the initial costs 01 the motor pump and its installation. As strongly emphasized~ most owners of motor pumps in Bled Mourzouk do not have their major source of

income from the meager ta from the ns but from oonsiderab more profitable oceupationst such as merchants or public servants. In this way they have the ecoDomio background necessary for the

starting of a more intensified method of cultivation with the help of ion motor pumps; in other words, management has becorne for them an auxillary 00 ian.

The deve10pment during the :five~year period

1958-63

further s this contention: all new installa- tions of motor pumps have been undertaken by well~

to-do merchants and office workers; smallholders are always too poor to pay the ce of a motor pump.

De te the faet that the number of motor pumps has increased, the smallholders will never have the

bene:fit of them Their alternative is to continue wat i r "da10uⁿ wells and

nkhettaras^H or to e. As has been seen, oIten choose the latter.

1kK:!MQtln:ouk~Umlend '<:if@1 'lIffll(?l'Id t<:l t/:llI ~I~ M;S1Jn~ 1(;;to!

!lommes _7ii _1ii ₇₅

..O 6V M

~$ 45

30 ::lo

I:; 15

20 10 O ^(} 10 :<0 ~ Hl \) (} 10 :Il) :ii.) 10 O O 10 ::<0

F 12. Mourzouk population l 2 6).

(19)

The main lem sugges s ertain t:he dLff'ieul ti<e

l e

distribution

Furthermor€~~ i t u t i l i lon of sati f'ac ori

from the obvious b

s

I.n the and :form

d or come or

of the

ssential if' the incrEH'lsed •

wider :furl.ction all

cul ture~ 'with ach oasis, must oWller-farmers

trouble of

"'H''''·....rance

o-economic tlla o-oa11eo

aid one

'.ihether

itself' mU.ltilatere.l eXaminfltion

rH"",·;!,>"""etary

ture are far Id called

truth in

(20)

'7

REFERENCF;S

I'ibut.i(;Il s moto-

( l Douchez, No

pompa

Elc1blom fs sur

t:tqois in

in.ven aire des

S du !,'{~zzan Sud

55

(21)

Scandinavian Institute of

African Studies, Uppsala

1967.

61

pp.

No. 2. Widstrand, C.G., Lyrics of Social Protest in East Africa.

African Studies. Uppsala

1968.

(In pre ion).

No.

3.

Carlsson, Gunnar, ~~nthonic

Fauna in African Watercours~s, wit~ Special Reference to

Black-Fly POEulations.

1968.

13 pp.

No.

h.

~~~~~~. A comparat

sample study of the 50cio- economic life in the three Libyan aases of" Ghat, Mourzouk and Ghadames.

1969.

17

pp.

Scandinavian Institute of African Studies 1969