Farmers are Businessmen.

My time in Oman is waning, and in an attempt to extend my research on water-policy-making-and-general-investigations-on-the-public-sector-while-taking-into-account-political-leadership-in-an-oil-abundant-state * inhale * I made a trip to the bucolic neighborhoods of Barka, about 45 min. outside the capital of Muscat.

Lovely things happen when performing field work in both a tiny and friendly state such as Oman. Living in the Sultanate as an American college graduate, and one attempting to orchestrate meetings in Arabic, is kind of like being a big fish in a small pond. A big, novel fish who sometimes conjugates her Arabic verbs incorrectly.

So yesterday, following a surprising streak of excellent music on 95.9, I managed to navigate my way into the gravel parking lot of the Agricultural Development Center in Barka. Ushered into this concrete square by a nice religious man, I sat down at a conference table. Soon two other gentlemen were joining us and I learned that one was a man that I had already spoken to over the phone, and he had called up the President of the first Farmer's Association in Oman to meet with me. Some Omani's have gone completely out of their way to help in my research; others persistently ignore my calls. Ma fi mushkila.

I had set up meetings with members of this development center and of the Farmer's Association to understand interfaces for government-public dialogue in Oman. Researching water policy making has taken me on an exploration of experts and the policy implications of their research; political institutions and their leaders; the political-economy of an oil state; and most recently, understanding the individuals that will be affected by any change to the status quo.

A sweet, eloquent man donning a shorter dishdasha and sporting an admirable, thick black beard with a few streaks of kinky white hairs, the President of Oman's first farmer's union described the organization's founding. With its headquarters in Suweiq, the association was officially founded in 2008, with 40 members. They knew that local farmers were a diverse community; some old, some young, and with different ideas. But they also recognized that there were general issues facing all farmers.

What struck me about the President's introduction of the union, was that he emphasized the need to better promote Omani agricultural product, while expanding foreign markets and strengthening local ones. The second initiative that he underscored was the introduction of modern technologies to increase farm efficiency. Dude, this farmer was a businessman! Not exactly the rustic life of gathering dates from the palm trees that I imagined. Though older farmers are still using flood irrigation on their plantations and would fit into the stereotype that I had subconsciously adopted, the middle and younger generation - if they decide to remain farmers, which many do not - carry a spade and a laptop.

The President and a handful of association members traveled to Europe, Holland particularly, to study the latest lessons learned in farming. The two members that I interviewed seemed happy with the advances in plant disease control, and according to the president, everyone uses drip irrigation now; no one uses traditional irrigation methods(though I believe the ratio of traditional to modern irrigation is more skewed). There are plans to utilize hydroponics and they hope that within the next 5-8 years, greenhouses will become predominant so that no one is growing crops “outside.”

Thanks to support from HM - mainly articulated during that Ibri royal camp/symposium in 2009 - the group hopes to expand its membership and take advantage of government funding, in addition to membership dues of course.

I've translated parts of the "Statutes of the Agricultural Association for the farmers of the Batinah Region" :
Date: 2/19/2008

The goals of the association are:

1. Solving and overcoming all obstacles and problems that farmers of the association face.
2. Adopting modern technologies and providing agricultural supplies to all.
3. Guiding farmers to provide advanced agricultural equipment and using them for members’ farms.
4. Conducting research on experiences and technical information, and being in contact with experts inside and outside the Sultanate, in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and related fronts in the Sultanate.
5. Encouraging farmers to use environmentally friendly pesticides and avoid using chemicals that harm human health and the environment, and applying modern methods in agriculture.
6. Encourage farmers to rationalize water use by using MIS.
7. Striving to obtain/achieve marketing services and promotion for agricultural products, inside and outside the Sultanate and opening new markets to market members’ products.
8. Concluding special contracts and agreements to market the products of members and non members, for a certain fee, and opening local and foreign markets.
9. Participating in symposiums and agricultural research within and outside the Sultanate, following approval of the Ministry of Agriculture, to obtain new varieties of agricultural crops and developed means of harvesting and transactions after harvesting, from packaging to transport and specifications for exportation.
10. Diversifying seasonal crops and trying not to rely on one variety.
11. Encouraging farmers to use modern technologies for agriculture and thus decreasing water used and protecting the environment from pollution.
12. Encouraging farmers to use protected crops to improve the quality of the product and its continuation and increased production per unit area.
13. Any other work concerned with agriculture and its marketing, upon approval of the concerned party.

The association is NOT allowed to:

1. Form parties or engage in policy, or interfere in religious affairs.
2. Establish tribal or other blocs.
3. Benefit, participate, or organize an association, authority, or club with its headquarters outside of the country.
4. Send delegations outside of Oman, or host delegations from outside of Oman, expect upon approval of the Ministry of Social Development.
5. Undertake public ceremonies/celebrations, festivals, or hold public lectures, except with authorization from the appropriate ministry.
6. Practice forbidden games or drinking alcohol in the association headquarters.