**2. Objectives of the study**

This chapter provides a description of the actual situation for the date palm value chain in the GCC countries, while providing strategic short term perspectives for a more effective and inclusive date palm market sector, constraints and challenges that have to be taken into account as well as proposed strategies to enhance systemic changes in the sector necessary to progress towards more solid and sustainable date palm value chain in the GCC. A specific attention is given to the challenges and constraints in the date palm sector in the GCC countries.

Through the mapping of the chain, the overall objective of this study is to identify the processes where values are created and how they are distributed among stakeholders along the date palm value chain. A special focus is devoted to policy instruments used by the Government to solve specific problems characterizing the chain and consequently enhance the development of the sector and see in particular to what extent those instruments are value creating.

With this view in mind, the present study has been designed with the following specific objectives:


### **3. Overview of the date palm sector in the GCC**

#### **3.1 Date palm production**

Date palm production is a strategic sector in most of the Arab countries including the GCC ones. The sector is one of the oldest economic activity in the Arabian Peninsula and continue to play a key role in the welfare, culture, history, environment, and nutrition of its population. At present (in 2016), the Arab Region is the world leader of date cultivation with almost 75% of global area under date palm, around 77% of world production and approximately 69% of world total export of dates. In addition to the importance of dates for domestic consumption, this sector is also a source of employment, income generation, and trade in many of

**13**

2000–2013.

*Date Palm Value Chain Analysis and Marketing Opportunities for the Gulf Cooperation…*

these countries. In some very arid areas, date fruit remains as an important source of subsistence and resilience for local population, given its adaptability to harsh environment and tolerance to high temperature, salinity, drought and other severe

According to the FAO statistical database [2], the GCC countries such as KSA, Oman, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have the highest harvested areas in 2016 with respectively 145,516 ha; 24,120 ha and 93,561 ha in the three countries. While this area was increased in KSA during the last two decades (from 142,450 ha in 2000 to 145,516 ha in 2016), it has rather been decreasing in both Oman (from 35,508 ha in 2000 to 24,120 ha in 2016) and UAE (from 185,330 ha in 2000 to 93,561 ha in 2016). This decrease was the highest in Oman with around 49.50% between 2000 and 2016. This This decline is mainly attributed to a combination of various factors including increased soil salinity in major date palm-growing regions, desertification in areas adjacent to the desert in central Oman, heavy insect pest infestation such as dubas bug and red palm weevil, and urbanization of

With respect to pace and trends in planted area, production and productivity varied considerably between the GCC countries although perhaps it was a result of the special attention paid and considerable government support during the last few decades. The harvested areas in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar are still very limited with respective values of 3986 ha; 3021 ha; and 2407 ha during 2016. In these three countries, the planted area has been quickly progressing during the last two decades with an average annual increase of about 20, 40, and 1.38% in respectively, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. The highest average yields (calculated over the period 2000– 2016) are recorded in Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman with respectively 22.03; 11.13; and

The assessment of the date palm yields reveals that the average yield at the global level is around 6 tons/ha. In the GCC countries, the lowest average yields are in UAE, KSA, and Bahrain, with respectively 5.89, 6.38, and 7.56 tons/ha in the three countries. These yield values combined to the statistics on harvested areas makes Saudi Arabia the top producer of dates in the GCC region, with an average

of 667,569.8 tons/year. It is clear that the productivity of the date palm tree varies within individual countries, and mainly depends on the agro-ecological systems,

In terms of consumption, GCC countries vary widely in their per capita date consumption. According to Frija et al. [3], date consumption per capita is highest in Oman with a value of 68 kg/capita/year, followed by Saudi Arabia with a value of 34 kg/capita/year. Sultanate of Oman greatly outpaces all GCC countries in per capita date consumption, which is more than double that of the KSA, the second highest ranking in date consumption among Arab and GCC Countries. The per capita date consumption for the other countries is comparatively low. The trends of date consumption per capita in the study countries reveals, in addition to being low, that it is also decreasing in most of the GCC countries over the period

of 885,542.8 tons/year, followed by UAE producing and average

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82450*

arid conditions.

rural areas.

10.34 tons/ha.

annual production1

**3.2 Marketing systems**

*3.2.1 Domestic consumption*

<sup>1</sup> Calculated over the period 2000–2016.

variety and farming system adopted.

#### *Date Palm Value Chain Analysis and Marketing Opportunities for the Gulf Cooperation… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82450*

these countries. In some very arid areas, date fruit remains as an important source of subsistence and resilience for local population, given its adaptability to harsh environment and tolerance to high temperature, salinity, drought and other severe arid conditions.

According to the FAO statistical database [2], the GCC countries such as KSA, Oman, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have the highest harvested areas in 2016 with respectively 145,516 ha; 24,120 ha and 93,561 ha in the three countries. While this area was increased in KSA during the last two decades (from 142,450 ha in 2000 to 145,516 ha in 2016), it has rather been decreasing in both Oman (from 35,508 ha in 2000 to 24,120 ha in 2016) and UAE (from 185,330 ha in 2000 to 93,561 ha in 2016). This decrease was the highest in Oman with around 49.50% between 2000 and 2016. This This decline is mainly attributed to a combination of various factors including increased soil salinity in major date palm-growing regions, desertification in areas adjacent to the desert in central Oman, heavy insect pest infestation such as dubas bug and red palm weevil, and urbanization of rural areas.

With respect to pace and trends in planted area, production and productivity varied considerably between the GCC countries although perhaps it was a result of the special attention paid and considerable government support during the last few decades. The harvested areas in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar are still very limited with respective values of 3986 ha; 3021 ha; and 2407 ha during 2016. In these three countries, the planted area has been quickly progressing during the last two decades with an average annual increase of about 20, 40, and 1.38% in respectively, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. The highest average yields (calculated over the period 2000– 2016) are recorded in Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman with respectively 22.03; 11.13; and 10.34 tons/ha.

The assessment of the date palm yields reveals that the average yield at the global level is around 6 tons/ha. In the GCC countries, the lowest average yields are in UAE, KSA, and Bahrain, with respectively 5.89, 6.38, and 7.56 tons/ha in the three countries. These yield values combined to the statistics on harvested areas makes Saudi Arabia the top producer of dates in the GCC region, with an average annual production1 of 885,542.8 tons/year, followed by UAE producing and average of 667,569.8 tons/year. It is clear that the productivity of the date palm tree varies within individual countries, and mainly depends on the agro-ecological systems, variety and farming system adopted.

#### **3.2 Marketing systems**

## *3.2.1 Domestic consumption*

In terms of consumption, GCC countries vary widely in their per capita date consumption. According to Frija et al. [3], date consumption per capita is highest in Oman with a value of 68 kg/capita/year, followed by Saudi Arabia with a value of 34 kg/capita/year. Sultanate of Oman greatly outpaces all GCC countries in per capita date consumption, which is more than double that of the KSA, the second highest ranking in date consumption among Arab and GCC Countries. The per capita date consumption for the other countries is comparatively low. The trends of date consumption per capita in the study countries reveals, in addition to being low, that it is also decreasing in most of the GCC countries over the period 2000–2013.

*Agricultural Economics - Current Issues*

order to make production sustainable.

**2. Objectives of the study**

specific objectives:

countries.

**3.1 Date palm production**

In this regards, the project "*Development of sustainable date palm production systems in the GCC countries of the Arabian Peninsula*", funded by the GCC Secretariat, was implemented, in partnership, by various ministries of agriculture, agricultural authorities, and agricultural research institutions and universities in the six GCC countries of the Arabian Peninsula (Kingdom of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, State of Kuwait, State of Qatar, Sultanate of Oman, and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - KSA) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). The major objectives of the project are to improve date palm productivity per unit of water and rationalize the use of the available resources in

This chapter provides a description of the actual situation for the date palm value chain in the GCC countries, while providing strategic short term perspectives for a more effective and inclusive date palm market sector, constraints and challenges that have to be taken into account as well as proposed strategies to enhance systemic changes in the sector necessary to progress towards more solid and sustainable date palm value chain in the GCC. A specific attention is given to the

Through the mapping of the chain, the overall objective of this study is to identify the processes where values are created and how they are distributed among stakeholders along the date palm value chain. A special focus is devoted to policy instruments used by the Government to solve specific problems characterizing the chain and consequently enhance the development of the sector and see in particular

With this view in mind, the present study has been designed with the following

• To analyze the existing value chain of date palm marketing with special attention to the international date palm markets and opportunities for GCC

• To provide strategies and interventions for the GCC date value chain with

Date palm production is a strategic sector in most of the Arab countries including the GCC ones. The sector is one of the oldest economic activity in the Arabian Peninsula and continue to play a key role in the welfare, culture, history, environment, and nutrition of its population. At present (in 2016), the Arab Region is the world leader of date cultivation with almost 75% of global area under date palm, around 77% of world production and approximately 69% of world total export of dates. In addition to the importance of dates for domestic consumption, this sector is also a source of employment, income generation, and trade in many of

challenges and constraints in the date palm sector in the GCC countries.

to what extent those instruments are value creating.

• To overview the date palm sector in GCC countries.

potential for significant development of value-added.

**3. Overview of the date palm sector in the GCC**

**12**

<sup>1</sup> Calculated over the period 2000–2016.

### *3.2.2 Livestock feeding use*

In addition to human consumption, date pits and dates falling down from palms before maturity are used as animal feed. There is some use for feed of final product in some countries. This practice is not only observed in GCC countries but is also frequent in other North African countries, such as Tunisia. Some portion of date production is date wasted. Recent statistics from FAO (several years) indicates that up to 38% of the date production was fed to animals in UAE during 2013. For Oman, this figure is around 4%. The volume of wasted dates is also important in the study countries. The lowest wasted percentage (of production) is recorded in KSA (1%), while a highest rate of 13% is recorded in Kuwait.

#### *3.2.3 Domestic market and structure*

In the majority of GCC countries, date products' marketing is dominated by local marketing process since export marketing, with the exception of UAE and KSA, is still a small percentage of local production. Domestic marketing of dates is free of direct government involvement and is sole responsibility of the private sector and to a lesser extent of the producers. It takes many forms. At the domestic market, date marketing is passing through two avenues:


#### **3.3 Marketing channels of dates**

Food marketing, according to Kohls and Uhl [4], is "the performance of all business activities involved in the flow of food products and services from the point of production until they are in the hands of consumers." For dates, these activities include harvesting, processing, packaging, and transportation/shipment to local or export markets. A marketing channel describes the movement of a product or commodity from the site of production to the place of consumption. It may include transportation, handling and storage, ownership transfers, processing, and distribution. The marketing channel for dates includes initial processing at farm level after harvest, transport to the local market directly (especially for the highly perishable fruits) or to the packing plant, processing and packaging at factory level and transport to the final consumers. There are no universal set of marketing channels because each country is unique, and institutions involved operate differently under different sets of regulations. Therefore, in the GCC countries, the differences in the marketing channels are minima's, and include on-farm selling, retailers, local markets, date factories, and consumers markets.

**15**

**Table 1.**

*expressed in 1000 US\$.*

*Date Palm Value Chain Analysis and Marketing Opportunities for the Gulf Cooperation…*

The KSA is an important stage in both the traditional and modern methods of marketing. There is packing for long-distance transportation (local and export) and packing for the final consumers at supermarkets. Dates can be sold at the farm gate and from there dates are marketed either directly to the final consumer at the local market or to the local wholesale market. In practice, four existing/dominant channels for the commercialization of dates are dominant is KSA and are presented as follows:

In Oman, the marketing channels for dates include on-farm selling, retailers, local markets, date factories, and export. There are therefore mainly three channels through which date flow from the farm to local and foreign consumers/export market:

• Dates can be sold at the farm gate and from there dates are marketed either

before reaching the local market or directly to the local market.

trader and then to the final consumer (local or export).

**Countries 2012 2016**

**Value of export (1000 US\$)**

Oman 23 5814.9 7745.6 44 15,699.836 12,650.393 Bahrain 2 43.8 33.1 3 16.716 2868 Kuwait 19 363.9 337.7 14 405.777 542.958 Qatar na na na na na na KSA 60 64,299.0 74,859.5 64 117,017.911 141,564.174 UAE 98 304,090.5 129,177.2 110 275,862.901 160,215.460 *Source: UN COMTRADE data base; (na: not available). Number of countries shows the number of countries to which each of the respective GCC countries is exporting dates; Exported quantities are expressed in tons; value of export is* 

**Exported quantities (tons)**

*Number of dates exporting markets for each of the GCC countries.*

directly to the final consumer at the local market or to the local wholesale market.

• Dates can be marketed directly to wholesalers and from there to retailers either

• Dates can be marketed directly to wholesalers and from there to the processing factories for processing and packaging before being shipped to the retailers'

The trade matrix of dates for the GCC countries is represented through a list of exported quantities from each of these countries to different destinations in the world. However, due to the high number of destinations, **Table 1** summarized only

> **Number of countries**

**Exported quantities (tons)** **Value of export (1000 US\$)**

*3.3.1 Example of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia marketing channel for dates*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82450*

*3.3.2 Example of Oman marketing channel for dates*

**3.4 Exports market channels**

**Number of countries**

*Date Palm Value Chain Analysis and Marketing Opportunities for the Gulf Cooperation… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82450*
