THE IMPORTANCE OF

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE '
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM OF THE

SOUTHWEST REGION OF SAUDI ARABIA

Dissertation for the Degree of Ph. D.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
SALEH AHMED NASSER
1976

   
 
   

  

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The Importance of Community Development
in the Bevelepm'ent 'Program of the
Southwest Region of Saudi Arabia

presented by

Saleh Ahmed Nasser

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Doctor of W degree in Wevelopment

WV
Major professor

Date January 26, 1976

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ABSTRACT
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM OF THE
SOUTHWEST REGION OF SAUDI ARABIA

BY

Saleh Ahmed Nasser

Many efforts are underway in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia to improve the level of living of its citizens.
These efforts, however, cannot be fully effective unless
_the people are capable of participating in and sharing
responsibility for many of the programs. Community devel-
opment is one effort designed to prepare people and areas
for a greater measure of effective participation in the
many kinds of human and natural resource development
efforts now underway or being contemplated.

The Southwest Region was selected for study
because, historically, it has been the most isolated area
of the country. The Region is losing population through
outmigration. Essentially it has a traditional type popu-
lation relying primarily on agriculture. The national
government is taking a special interest in this area.

The lack of many kinds of information and the

problems of gaps in data were substantial obstacles to a

Saleh Ahmed Nasser

more specific analysis. However, many accurate government
reports are becoming available. Also there are a number

of articles in scholarly journals and recent books that

can be used in constructing an evaluation of the type
attempted in this dissertation. Essentially the hypothesis
that guided the investigation was: Community Development
can be a significant component in the socio-economic devel-
opment of the Southwest Region.

The findings of this study suggest that while the
Region has 31 percent of the total population of the
country and despite the efforts in social, health, and
educational fields, the Region still is confronted with
a significant backlog of unmet social needs, education
services, and health care delivery systems. Self-initiated
community efforts are also notably missing in much of the
Region. These areas, then, constitute the highest priority
avenues for enhancement of the living conditions for the
peOple.

It seems reasonably obvious that the agricultural
sector is the most likely sector for concentrating develop-
ment efforts. Here the needs range from agricultural
experimentation and infrastructure enlargement to training
of agricultural producers in modernized type of farming.
Later perhaps the tourism and the manufacturing potentials

can be explored in some depth for possible development.

Saleh Ahmed Nasser

Expansion of the community development program in
the Region may have a significantly positive effect by
facilitating coordination among the various programs and
personnel that are also being implemented in the Region.
The lack of coordination is a problem that occurs in all
countries irrespective of level of development but is
especially acute in those instances characterized by rapid
expansion in many program areas.

The need for trained personnel who can implement
community development type programs is perhaps the most
important finding of this study. If programs to help the
people are to evolve according to the plans now being
formulated there can be no delay in development of the

trained personne1--it must begin immediately.

THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM OF THE

SOUTHWEST REGION OF SAUDI ARABIA

BY

Saleh Ahmed Nasser

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Resource Development

1976

Dedicated to my wife

Najla A. Alshaibi

ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to express a sincere appre-
ciation and deep gratitude to his Advisor and Committee
Chairman, Professor Milton H. Steinmueller for his timely
advice, wisdom, direction, guidance and helpful suggestions
which he had provided since the beginning of my graduate
work in the Department of Resource Development, at Michigan
State University, and during the course of writing this
dissertation.

The author would also like to acknowledge the
assistance and encouragement of Professors Raleigh Barlowe,
William Kimball and M. Rupert Cutler, of the Resource
Development Department, Professor Everett Rogers, previously
of the Communication Department and Professor Charles
Barr, of the School of Urban Planning and Landscape Archi-
tecture.

Sincere gratitude is due to the officials of the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in Saudi Arabia for
their support and encouragement and a special word of
appreciation is due to Mr. A. Mangour, the Saudi Arabian
CUltUral Attache, in the United States and Canada, for his

continuous support and help.

iii

Finally, the author would like to express his
deepest appreciation and gratitude to his wife, Najla, for
her sincere support, encouragement, and patience which
made the completion of his study possible; also special
thanks, with love, is due to his daughter, Sahar, and son,
Ahmad, for the pleasures they gave between the hours of

work.

iv

LIST OF

LIST OF

CHAPTER

I.

II.

III.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Study Area . . . . . . . . . . .
Sources of Information and Their
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . .
Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SAUDI ARABIA IN PERSPECTIVE . . . .

Location and Regions . . . . . . . .
Hijaz or the Western Region . .
Asir or the Southwest Region . .

Najd or the Central Region . . .
Alhasa or the Eastern Region . .
Human Dimensions . . . . . . . . . .
Human Component Characteristics
Natural Resource Characteristics

AN OVERVIEW OF THE SOUTHWEST REGION

Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Climate O O O O O O O O O O 0 0 O 0
Population and Labor Force . . . . .

Page
xii

XV

16
22
22
22

24-

CHAPTER Page
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Physiographic Areas . . . . . . . . . 33

Crop Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Irrigated and Rainfed Cropping
Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Cropped Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Crop Production Volumes . . . . . . . . . 39
Livestock Production . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Gross and Net Values of Crop and Live-

stock Production . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Food Balance of the Region . . . . . . . . 46
Agricultural per Capita Incomes . . . . . 46
Forestry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Fisheries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Agricultural Extension, Training and
Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50_

Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .>. 53
Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Manufacturing and Construction . . . . . . 59
Private Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Land Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Sea Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Air Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Postal and Telecommunications . . . . . . 63
Trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

vi

CHAPTER

Iv.

Banking . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Electric Power . . . . . . . . . . .
Public Services . . . . . . . . . . .
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Education . . . . . . . . . . . .
Labor and Social Affairs . . . . . .
Social Security . . . . . . . .
Cooperation . . . . . . . . . .
Municipalities . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Abha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Najran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bisha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Al Baha . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Baljurshi . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jizan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Alqunfudhah and Al Lith . . . . . .

Administrative Structure . . . . . . . .

Diversity in Administrative Division

Lack of an Administrative Structure
at Regional Level . . . . . . . .

High Degree of Centralizations . . .

Shortage of Qualified Personnel . .

Social Structure and Organization . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR THE
SOUTHWEST REGION . . . . . . . . . . .

Development Objectives and Strategy . .

vii

Page
64
65
66

66

71
72

72
73
73
74
74
74
74
75
75

76

76
77
77
77

81

86

86

CHAPTER Page

The Development Programs for the
Southwest Region 1973-1980 . . . . . . . . . 92

,.Agricu1ture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Collecting of Hydrological and

Geohydrological Data . . . . . . . . 94
Preparation of Topographic Maps . . . 94
Feasibility Studies Regarding

Major Wadi Improvements in

the Coastal Plains . . . . . . . . . 95
Implementation of Small-Scale

Projects Under a Rural Works

Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
The Wadi-Bisha Drainage Study . . . . 96
The Wadi-Najran Study . . . . . . . . 97

The Wadi-Bisha Water Development

Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Research, Experiments, Demonstrations. 97
Agricultural Extension . . . . . . . 101

The Supply of Agricultural Credit . . 103'"3

Marketing of Agricultural Products . . 104

Plant Protection . . . . . . . . . . . 105
The Land and Water Development
Organization . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Regulation of Water Use or
Water Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Agricultural Subsidies . . . . . . . . 107
Animal Production . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Marine Fisheries . . . . . . . . . . . . . lll

Forestry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
The Industrial Development Program . . . . 114

Training of the Available Manpower . . 115
Creating a Favorable Industrial

Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Transformation of Existing

Artisan Industry . . . . . . . . . . 117
Development of Agro-Industries . . . . 117
Development of Other Industries . . . 118

,UTransport and Communication . . . . . . . 119

viii

CHAPTER

Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seaports . . . . . . . . . . . .
Airports . . . . . . . . . . . .
Telecommunications . . . . . . .

Electric Power . . . . . . . . . . .

Service Center Networks and
Municipalities . . . . . . . . . .

Future Development . . . . . . .
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . .
Policies . . . . . . . . . . . .
Development Program . . . . . .

Public Education . . . . . . . . . .

Objectives . . . . . . . . . . .
Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Development Program . . . . . .

Other Social Services . . . . . . .
Social Security . . . .'. . . .
Community Development . . . . .
Cooperatives . . . . . . . . . .
Youth Development . . . . . . .
Labor Affairs . . . . . . . . .
Public Information . . . . . . .
Social Structure . . . . . . . .

Drinking Water DevelOpment . . . . .

/,'Urban Housing . . . . . . . . . . .

V. THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OF THE SOUTHWEST

REGION 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Concepts and Definitions . . . . . . . .

Application of Community Development
Principles in Saudi Arabia . . . . . .

Historical Background . . . . . . .

ix

Page

119
120
122
122

122

123
125
127

127
127
128

132

132
133
134

140

140
140
141‘
142

142
143

144‘

145

146

148

148

160

161

CHAPTER

The Initiation . . . . .
The Legitimation . . . .

Goals of the Project . . . .
Organizational Structure . .
Program Resources . . . . .

Human Resources . . . .
Financial Resources . .

Some of the Program Achievements

Community Development Approaches to
Development in the Southwest Region

The Economic Aspects . . . .

Encouraging and Developing Rural

and Domestic Industries

Establishing Agriculture Coop-

erative Societies . .

Development of a Livestock

Resource . . . . . . .
Social Aspects . . . . . . .

Social Survey . . . . .

Outlining Projects Plans According

to Community Needs . .

Supporting and Consolidating

Councils . . . . . . .
Education of Women . . .
Youth Rural Clubs . .

Educational and Cultural Aspects

Health Aspects . . . . . . .

Urban Community Development

Local

VI. SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS .

Summary of Findings . . . . . .
Recommendations . . . . . . . .

Conclusions . . . . . . . . . .

Page

161
163

165
168
171

171
172

172

177

183

184
184
185
186.
186
186
187
187
190
191
192
193
198'
199
206

216

CHAPTER Page

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

xi

Table

1.

10.

LIST OF TABLES

Labor Force of Working Age 15-65, Saudi
Arabia, 1963 . . . . . . . . . . .

Number of all the Employees According to
Their Academic Qualifications, Years
of Service and Training, Ministry of
Agriculture, Saudi Arabia, 1970 . .

Estimated Population and Its Distribution,
Southwest Region of Saudi Arabia,
1972 (1,000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Estimated Population in Saudi Arabia and
in the Southwest Region by Age and
Sex, 1972 (1,000) . . . . . . . . .

Employed Persons 15 Years and Over,
Classified by Type of Economic
Activities for Southwest Region and
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1966 . . . .

Male Labor Force Employment Estimates for
Southwest Region in 1972 . . . . . . . . .

Estimated Population in Municipalities,
Southwest Region, Saudi Arabia, 1970 . . . .

Percent Distribution of Population by
Urban, Rural and Migratory Status,
Southwest Region, Saudi Arabia, 1962
and 1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Estimated Population Growth, 1972-1990,
Southwest Region, Saudi Arabia . . . . . . .

Irrigated and Rainfed Cropping Land (in
ha) in the Southwest Region by
Physiographic and Administrative Unit,
1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

xii

Page

13

15

25

27

28

30

32

33

34

38

Table Page

11. Areas (in ha) Cultivated with Major Crops
in the Southwest Region by Physiographic
Unit in 1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

12. Production of Major Crops in the South-
west Region by Physiographic Unit, 1972
(Metric tons, rounded figures) . . . . . . . . 42

13. Estimated Present Livestock of the South—
west Region, 1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

14. Net Values of Crop and Livestock Pro-
duction for an "Average" Year by
Administrative Area in the Southwest
Region, 1972 (SR million) . . . . . . . . . . 44

15. Gross and Net Values of Crop Production
for an "Average" Year per Physiographic
Unit in the Southwest Region (SR million) . . 45

16. Average Net Values of Crop and Livestock
Production per Caput of Agricultural
Population, for a Normal Year by
Administrative Area, Southwest Region,
Saudi Arabia, 1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

17. Number and Value of Loans Granted by
Various Branches of the Bank in the
Fiscal Year 1969—70, Saudi Arabia . . . . . . 54

18. Distribution of Medium Term Loans in
Abha Branch by Purpose, 1969-70,
Southwest Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

19. Comparison of Number of Students and
Schools at Elementary, Intermediate,
and Secondary Levels in the Southwest
Region and Saudi Arabia, 1971-72 . . . . . . . 69

20. Gross Regional Product and Disposable
Income, Southwest Region, Saudi Arabia,
1971-72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

21. Budget Expenditure for the Government of
Saudi Arabia of a Subsidy on Certain
Capital Investments, Southwest Region . . . . 109

22. Approximate Investment Schedule for Road

Construction (SR million), Southwest
Region . . . . ._. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

xiii

Table Page

23. Investments in a Regional Electrification
Program, Southwest Region, 1972 . . . . . . . 124

24. High and Low Estimates of Medical Personnel
Establishments for 1980, Southwest
Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

25. Enrollment and Investment in Girl's

Elementary Education, 1972-1980,
Southwest Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

xiv

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart Page
1. Map of Saudi Arabia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2. Map of Southwest Region . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3. Organizational Structure of the Community
Development Project in Saudi Arabia . . . . . 169

XV

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia several years ago
began a number of programs to improve the standard of
living of all people in the Kingdom. Since then the King-
dom has seen its income enhanced significantly, largely
because of the increase in the quantity and price of
exported oil. As a result, it has been possible to expand
existing programs and to develop new ones to further origi-
nal goals.

The maintenance of a good measure of balance in
the distribution of benefits from development programs has
always been a concern in developing countries. Saudi
Arabia is no exception. Measures to insure equal partici—
pation are always difficult to design and implement. This
is as true when the Region is the focus as it is when dif-
ferent groups of people within a region are the focus.

In Saudi Arabia significant emphasis has been
placed on the concept of "community development" as the
approach to help assure equality of access to improvement.
But it is becoming increasingly apparent that community
development must be modified to fit the different conditions

1

in the Kingdom. These differences are obvious when view-

ing the Country from a regional perspective.

The Study Area

 

The Southwest Region was selected for study because
until recently it was rather isolated and had been losing
population to the other regions. It has been estimated
that three-fourths of the population of the Region are
dependent upon agriculture for their living. However,
much of the Region is not particularly suited to agricul-
tural expansion except in those areas where the water
supply can be improved.

Other income potentials exist in the Region. Some
parts of the Region may be especially suited for tourism
development. The climate during the summer might be par—
ticularly attractive to residents of other regions and
possibly some of these people could be induced to spend
their vacations in the Southwest Region. Forest develop-
ment may also be a potential for the Region. Possibly the
two, tourism and forestry, could be linked because it is
only in this Region that any forest land at all exists in
the Kingdom.

At present, the development of a manufacturing
sector is constrained by the lack of raw materials, low
purchasing power of the regional population and the high
cost of transportation. It is possible that the development

of agriculture, which is now essentially at the subsistence

level, will stimulate those manufacturing industries
closely related to agricultural inputs and outputs. This
in turn may encourage the development of additional manu-
facturing sectors. Eventually, it is hoped this will have
a positive effect on the construction and service sectors.
It is unlikely that minerals, including oil, will
be the basis for development in the foreseeable future.
Thus other sectors will be the basis for income growth and
a better level of living for the people of the Region.
Thus, for the above mentioned strengths and weak-
nesses and because it appears to present almost a "classic"
case in regional development, the Southwest Region has been
selected for study in this dissertation. Also, this area

is of particular interest to the author.

Sources of Information and Their Limitations

 

The progress of this study was substantially
dependent on data from the various government ministries
and agencies. This information is considered to be accu-
rate but there are many data gaps. Also, it becomes
obvious early in a study such as this that there is little
"benchmark" data. There are few historical series and
therefore comparisons over time are difficult.

Books, monographs, and scholarly journal articles
were also used in this study. Generally, the accuracy of
these is considered high but few, if any, of these sources

focus specifically on the Southwest Region. Therefore,

both historical data and breadth of present data for the

Southwest Region did present a significant handicap for

this study.
It was recognized at the outset that this study

would be limited due to lack of appropriate information
Lack

and because the study was done in the United States.

of appropriate information is a problem common to almost

all research.
doing the research at some distance from the study area,

When this is coupled with the necessity of
additional shortcomings become obvious to the investigator.
During the progress of a study, like this, it would have
been especially helpful if the author could have "talked
Ove 1" some of the findings of some of the recommendations

with others who are quite familiar with conditions in the

This, of course, was not possible.

3 tudy area.
Although the study is limited it is felt that it

has value in that it will bring together in one place a

ITuaaf't‘lher of observations and pieces of information the
Further, the

a“l‘thor has not found in one place before.
ef3E<>rt will advance the knowledge of the author considerably

1“ relation to this area of his home country.

Hypotheses

This study differs from most studies in resource

development in that it is not designed to test specific

Rather it>is designed to build a basis or a

hllpotheses .
framework out of which additional researchers might draw

more specific hypotheses for testing on site or at least
closer in geographic proximity.

Essentially this study utilized the following
guiding hypotheses: Community Development can be a signifi—
cant component in the overall socio-economic development
of the Southwest Region of Saudi Arabia. In fact, the

implied hypotheses is: The better the Community Development
program is designed and the more actively it is implemented,
the stronger the sustained socio—economic growth and change

Will be in the Region.

CHAPTER II

SAUDI ARABIA IN PERSPECTIVE

Location and Regions

 

Saudi Arabia is one of the Arab states which is
located in Asia. It occupies about four-fifths of the
Arabian Peninsula, the largest projection of the South-
Western corner of the Asian Continent. The total area of

l but

Saudi Arabia is approximately 865,000 square miles,
great stretches of the land are desert.

/ Historically speaking, the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia up to 1926 was an aggregate of independent tribes
living all throughout the peninsula. The present Kingdom
was the creation of King Abdul-Aziz Ibn Abdul Rahman Al
Faj~L'sal Al Saud, well known as Ibn Saud. He worked to
unite the tribes and in 1924, after the fall of the
O“zit-caman Empire, he had control of Hijaz, including the

Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. In 1926, Ibn Saud was

proclaimed King of Hijaz and Sultan of Najd. In 1932 the

1U. 8. Government Printing Office, Area Handbook
fOr Saudi Arabia, Washington, D.C., 1971, p. XII.

 

 

6

two areas,-Hijaz and Najd, were consolidated to form the

present Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.1
Saudi Arabia is divided into four geographical
divisions which do not, in every case, correspond to

political division. These four principal regions are:

Hijaz or the Western Region

Hijaz is an area of 150,000 square miles, and has

a coast line of about 700 miles along the Red Sea. It is
Considered as the most well known region of the country

because of the two Holy Cities, Mecca and Medina, the com-
mercial city of Jedda, and its important ports and, in

recent years, the discovery of the huge mineral resources.

It is located in the Northwest portion of the Kingdom.

\2 ‘S’j—I or the Southwest Region

Located on the South of the Hijaz Region, it has

an area of about 100,000 square miles. This region has a

good sized farming area and it receives more rain than
other regions in the country. This region will be dis-

cussed further in the following chapters.

\

I 1See: George A. Lipsky, Saudi Arabia, Its People,

~\I§§_Society, Its Culture (New Haven: HRAF Press, 1959),
p13.—8-19, and K. S. TWItchell, Saudi Arabia (Princeton, New
ersey: Princeton University Press, 1958), pp. 115-163.

2G. A. Lipsky, Saudi Arabia, p. 21.

 

Najd or the Central Region
Located in the Central Plateau of the Kingdom,
omith an area estimated as 600,000 square miles. Riyadh,
‘tlue Capital of Saudi Arabia, is in this region and it has
an {good agricultural activity, especially around the
c:eag>ital city and in the Province of Qassem, where the
ci:i:5covery of the underground water has contributed to the

jLITpg>rovement of the agricultural production.

1%;1_}1asa or the Eastern Region

Located in the Eastern part of the country, with
€3Jr1 area estimated to be 40,000 square miles. In this
reg ion, beside the Oasis and its seven enormous water
£31.:>:I:'ings, the two million palm trees and the new irrigation
Esil’ss‘tem project there is the oil production, the main
IT‘a‘Al‘liral resource of Saudi Arabia. There are some important
<25i—i2uies in this region like Dhahran, where the oil companies

ESJIEGE headquartered and Damman, the commercial city with its

Human Dimensions

 

EEQEEEfian Component Characteristics

The exact size of the population of Saudi Arabia
j‘SS not available at the present. The only complete census
that was done in the country took place several months ago

iind the figures have not been released. There were a

number of estimates made by private, public, and

 

 

 

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w R 4'
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\ ,- ‘— ’— __- /
\ /.”
\ /
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Chart 1.--Map of Saudi Arabia.

 

 

10

international authorities. Such estimations range from
2,900,000 to 9 million. In this study an average of five
selected approximations will be recognized. In the late

Fifties some reports by Aramco and other organizations
estimated the population at 2,900,000. The international
Demographic Year Book of the United Nations estimated the
1

population in 1973 at 8,440,000. The World Bank estimated

2 The Population Refer-

the population at 5 million in 1961.
ence Bureau, Inc. estimates the population of Saudi Arabia
in l 975 at 9 million.3 Several other sources, including
L11'11:>1.:Ll:>lished governmental reports, estimated the population
at; 4 -5 million. These different figures give us an average
of Over 5.5 million, which means about five persons per
Sq‘Jare mile. Great portions of the population live in the
rural areas, although in the last two decades the country
faced the biggest movement, or immigration, from these
areas to the cities where better jobs and higher income
are available.

One of the most serious problems in the develop-

me . . .
nt of Saudi Arabia 13 the shortage of the skilled man

power. There is a lack of well-trained people to handle
\

Egc) 1United Nations, International Demographic Year
0k (New York: U.N. Publications, 1973), p. 104.

T3ea 2The International Bank for Reconstruction and
Velopment, World Bank Operations (Baltimore: The Johns
kains University Press, 1972) , p. 1.

1? 3Population Reference Bureau, Inc., 1975 World
exsfifigation Data Sheet (Washington, D.C., 19757.

11

the jobs. That is why the country is importing large

liumbers of foreign experts and technicians. At the same

izime, a massive educational program, to train the young

Ehaudis, has been developed in the last twenty years. With

tzfue huge flow of the oil revenue, education has achieved a

czcxnsiderable measure of progress in the Kingdom. The

«ee)<lpenditure for this sector alone has risen from 12,817,000

saaaiadi Riyalsl to 1,595,000,000 Saudi Riyals in 1972, and

.i.r1 the fiscal year 1974-75 the budget of this sector

increased 100 percent over the previous year to become

13 - “784,000,000.2

In the society of Saudi Arabia, religion plays an

jL1T11;>ortant role. It has an effect on the family affairs

E3drl<il social relationships are concerned with religion. It
‘j-SB impossible to separate religion from their lives. Even
That is

€361Lilcation cannot be separated from religion.
because Islam is basically a cooperative system. Prophet

IMioliammed's words show the Philosophy of the Islamic

CZC3C.‘-bperative Concept. He says:

The faithful are to one another like a building--
each part strengthening the others. Every Muslim
is brother to a Muslim, neither wronging him nor
allowing him to wrong. And if anyone helps his
brother in need, God will help him in his own need;

\

1Ministry of Information, The Plan of Social and

‘Ekggnomic Development (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1971), p. 23.
U-S. Dollar = 3.55 Saudi Riyals.

2Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Annual Report
(Jedda, Saudi Arabia, 1972), p. 59.

 

12

and if any one removes a calamity from another Muslim,
God will remove from him some of the calamities on the
Day of Resurrection.

{This philosophy and the other principles of Islam, as Asad

Idohammad says:

To arrange social and economic relations in such a way
that every individual shall live in Freedom and
Dignity, and shall find as few obstacles as possible
and as much encouragement as possible in the develop-
ment of his personality.

511:63 well dominating the life of the people of Saudi Arabia
and at the same time it does not have any actual limitations
t:<:> the progressive government activities. In this social
fJE‘Eimework, the relationship within the rural family is
‘\’€EL1:y attached to one another and each feels responsible for
the family. The size of rural families is usually large,
<2C>rtlsisting of parents, their children and grandchildren.
'13}3¢i_s type of family used to exist in the urban areas, but

:1-53 seldom found there today.

Some of the factors which will continue to have an
important effect on the rate of social and economic
development are directly related to the need for
increased efficiency and desirable changes in the
occupational distribution of the labor force. An
economy initially based mainly on agriculture and
commerce, and more recently on oil, is now attempting
to diversify as quickly as existing constraints will

\

lA1 Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Abu
hallsa and Abdullah Ibn Umar, quoted from Asad Mohammad,
-‘31§_Principles of State and Government in Islam (Berkeley:
'niversity of California Press, 1961), p. 21.

2Asad Mohammad, The Principles of State and
Sigernment in Islam, p. 33.

13
permit, and manpower shortages have, at times, made it
difficult to proceed as rapidly as desired.
In 1963, some studies estimated the labor force of working
age, 15-65, as about 800,000 men.2 According to the

report it was as follows, by field:

Table l.--Labor Force of Working Age 15-65, Saudi Arabia

 

 

1963.
Occupation Number
Nomads 165,000
In private establishment 176,000
In government 96,000
In agriculture 200,000

Not accounted for (students, etc.) 172,000

809,000a

aCentral Planning Organization, Economic Report,
Unpublished (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1963), p. 7; see also,
:E‘Eizgez Ibrahim Badr, Developmental Planning in Saudi
EEEEiéibia: A Multidimensional Study (Thesis, University of
so1.:Ithern Cafifornia, Los Angeles, 1968), p. 132.

 

 

 

The writer does not believe that these figures are
ac2<2urate. It can be assumed that the Nomads figure is
‘lrhderestimated. Several studies show that nearly half the

FRDPulation of Saudi Arabia is Nomadic or semi-Nomadic,

lCentral Planning Organization, Development Plan
(Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1970). PP. 23-24.

 

2Central Planning Organization, Economic Report,
Unpublished (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1963), p. 5.

 

I 3U:

14

therefore, the number must be higher than 165,000. More

important, within Nomads, women work hand-in-hand with men

and it is normal that less than 15 year old members of the

are as productive as the

family, in the Nomadic areas,

elders. In the last fifteen years the role of women, in

started growing, especially in the

and health. That

the urban labor force,

fields of education, social services,

.report did not include female activities in either urban,
irural or Nomadic areas. Actually the shortage of manpower
eexists in both labor force and skilled manpower. As an

the total number of the

up to March, 1970,
1

example,
€21nployees of the Ministry of Agriculture was 5,200.
‘ITEible 2 shows the academic qualifications, years of expe-

JCfijuence and attendance of training courses of those employees
rI'l'iis table reveals that 45.3 percent of all the employees
<i<:, not have any academic qualifications and 42.6 percent

l'1<'-—‘->.Zl.d.the elementary certificate or their academic level is

'k>€allow this certificate. The rest of the employees, 12

{BSEfircent of the total, hold certificates equivalent to the
intermediate certificate or above, including holders of
‘1rliversity degrees, who compose 2.2 percent of all the

enfrployees (118 with B.S. and nine holding M.S.). As far

518 training is concerned, the table shows that 6.4 percent

(Df all employees attended different training courses,

 

 

 

1Ministry of Agriculture and Water, Studyiof Man
Bpwer of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water (Riyadh,

Saudi Arabia, 1970), pp. 50-51.

1.5

Table 2.--Number of all the Employees According to Their Academic Qualifications, Years of Service
and Training, Ministry of Agriculture, Saudi Arabia, 1970.

 

Years of Service

Four or Less

 

 

Years of Service

Four or More

 

 

Total Accord—

 

 

 

Academic , . ing to
Qualification 2::e23t Attended Eiieggt Attended Academic
training training training Training Qualification
H t H t H i H 6 H 6

0° “9t.haV5 academic 948 18.2 7 0.1 1382 26.4 19 0.3 2356 45.3

qualification

861°? Fhe Elementary 379 7.2 6 0.1 669 13.0 35 0.7 1089 21.0

Certificate

Elemeniary certificate 368 7.0 15 0.3 650 12.0 71 1.4 1124 21.6

or equivalent

Intermediate

Certificate or 90 1.7 9 0.2 130 2.5 42 0.8 271 5.2

equivalent

High s?h°°1 Diploma 10 0.2 4 0.1 22 0.4 21 0.4 57 1.1

or equivalent

8?1°“ the AgriCUItural 12 0.2 -- --- 23 0.4 10 0.2 45 0.9

Diploma

Intermediate

Agricultural Diploma 46 0.9 24 0.4 18 0.3 37 0.7 125 2 4

Intermediate

Industrial Diploma S 0'1 -- --- 7 0'1 l -—- l3 0'2

Intermeélate. 4 0.1 -- --- 7 0.1 2 --- 13 0.2

CommerCial Diploma

Auditor's __ -__ __ ___ -_ ___ l __- 1 ___

Fellowship

University Degrees 38 0.7 10 0.2 58 1.1 21 0.4 127 2.2

Total According

to Training 1900 36,3 75 1.4 2966 56.8 259 5.0 5200 100%

Total According to

Years of Service 1975 3225 5200

 

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Water, Study of Man Power of the Ministry of Agriculture
and Water (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1970). P. 51.

 

16

almost half of whom were from those holding the elementary
certificate or those with lower academic levels. The
same table reveals also that 61 percent of the employees
have four or more years of service.1 This shows how the
shortage of manpower in Saudi Arabia demands a very general
expansion of different activities in the field of education
and training and its various areas. The government has
recognized this problem as a serious one and programs are
under way to solve it. According to F. Harbison and C.
Myers:
The building of modern nations depends upon the
development of people and the organization of human
activity. Capital, natural resources, foreign aid,
and international trade, of course, play important
roles in economic growth, but none is more important
than manpower.
This is very true in the case of Saudi Arabia, the country

which has natural resources and the capital, but the

shortage of manpower is the main issue.

Natural Resource Characteristics

 

In general the whole country is considered as a
dry country, so the shortage of water is a major problem
which encouraged the government to start some projects of

.%uilding dams in different locations to save the rain

 

lIbid., p. 50.

2Frederick Harbison and Charles A. Myers, Education
Manpower and Economic Growth (New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company, 1964), p. v.

 

 

17

water during the rainy season. The establishment of
desalinization stations and searches for underground
water were also begun. As a matter of fact, the water
resources in the country are classified into five cate-
gories:

a. Free-flowing artesian wells, which are of two
kinds:

1. High level water springs, and
2. Underground water which is extracted, by
pumps, in most regions.1

b. Shallow wells: this source is rarely used for
drinking.

c. Springs: these are a natural spring which have
soft water, water suitable for drinking and for
irrigation purposes. Some cities depend on such
springs.

d. Streams which flow during most of the rainfall
season. These streams are in different areas in
the country, but most dams construction projection
are for the Southwest Region.

e. Rainfall: most of the Northern Bedouins and some
villages in the Northern and Southern regions are

dependent on this kind of water resources.2

 

1Depth of water varies from 1,000—10,000 feet
below ground level.

2Ministry of Finance and National Economy, Statis-
tical Year Book (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1969), p. 10.

 

18

In terms of climatic factors, Saudi Arabia is one
of the hottest regions of the world in the summer. The
highest temperatures occur in the interior where daytime
temperatures, at many stations, are about 118°F while night

temperatures range from 55-65°F.l

The minimum temperatures
below freezing are recorded on a few mornings during the
winter in some parts of the Plateau. Relative humidities
are lower in the hot season, but absolute humidity is
higher in coastal areas than in the interior. Finally,
the precipitation records show average annual rainfall
throughout the country is about five inches or less.2
There is no doubt that oil is the most important
natural resource that provides the dynamic element in the
Saudi economy. Oil production, which has been increasing
every year, has provided revenues which started at 3.2
million dollars in 1939, and reached 6.3 billion dollars
in 1973.3 This revenue provided about 92.5 percent of the
total government income in the year 1973. It is antici-
pated that the economic development of the Kingdom will
depend on its oil resources to a great extent and for a

long time to come, as the amount of income and foreign

exchange which this sector provides is considerable. Yet,

 

lIbid., pp. 23-25.
21bid., p. 12.

3Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Annual Report
(Jedda, Saudi Arabia, 1971), pp. 6-7.

 

19

the overall plan of development has adopted, as one of its
main targets, the progressive decrease of its dependence
on oil as its principal resource. Rather it plans to
diversify its production of resources for export to attain
a stage where oil will represent only one of its essential
export products and not the sole resource.l

Before the discovery of the oil, the country
was dependent, economically, upon the income from agricul-
ture, small scale fishing along the coasts, and the pil-
grims that come to the Holy Cities every year. There is
no precise data about the contribution of agriculture in
the national economy, but in the recent years it is esti—
mated to be between 8-10 percent. However, development of
agriculture is under way especially after the discovery of
underground water in some parts of the country and in some
regions the improvement of the agricultural production is
going well, especially in the Southwest and Eastern regions,
where the quantity of available water is greater than in
other regions of the country. Asir (Southwest Region) ‘941
has the largest agricultural area of any province because
of its relatively more favorable rainfall and the larger
number of intermittently flowing streams found there.2

The major crop is dates. Saudi Arabia ranks fourth among

 

1Ministry of Information, The Plan of Social and
Economic Development, p. 13.

2

 

 

G. A. Lipsky, Saudi Arabia, p. 206.

 

20

date producing countries and its annual production is
estimated at a little over 180,000 tons.1 Dates have a
great economic value in producing food, wood for construc—
tion and fodder for animals. Other crops are wheat,
maize, barley, alfalfa, various fruits, vegetables,
especially tomatoes, and lentils. The cultivated area is
estimated between 0.5 and 0.8 million acres, 230.7 million
acres used for grazing, which includes stretches of land
which support palatable vegetation only occasionally,
following rainfall; 3.7 million acres are forested land;
321.6 million acres are primarily wasteland. It was
reported in 1960 that aerial photographs showed the culti-
vated area as covering 741,000 acres.2

Fisheries could play an important role in increas-
ing the food supply and provide the basis for a lucrative
fishing industry. The seas around the Arabian peninsula
are rich in fish. Among the extraordinarily large variety
of species, sardines are abundant in the Red Sea, and
sardines, groupers, mackerel, barracuda, tuna and shrimp
are found in the Gulf in the Eastern part of the country.

Besides oil, there are considerable mineral
resources for commercial production, such as gold, silver,

copper, zinc, lead, titanium, iron, silica, ironite,

 

1Ibid., p. 217.

2U.S. Government Printing Office, Area Handbook
for Saudi Arabia, p. 215.

 

 

21

granite, limestone, marble and salt. At the present,

these resources are unexploited.

CHAPTER III

AN OVERVIEW OF THE SOUTHWEST REGION

Location

The Southwest Region of Saudi Arabia includes the
Provinces of Asir, Baha, Bisha, Najran, and inzan, with
districts of Al Birk, Qunfudhah, and Allith (see map on
the following page). The area of this region is approxi-
mately 100,000 square miles. The distance from the North
to the South, along the Red Sea coast is nearly 450 miles.
The width from Southwest to Northeast varies from 150

200 miles.

Climate
The climate of this region is governed by the move-
ment of the inter-Tropical Front and the geographic features

of the area.1

The Coastal Plain is dry most of the year,
very hot in the summer and warm in the winter. As elevation
increases toward the Dissected Highlands, the temperature

regularly drops, resulting in increased precipitation. In

the valley areas, typical desert climate with high winds

 

1Central Planning Organization, Development Plan,

 

22

23

 

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33(10959— ‘3‘ 19:12.; icuau.

MST“.

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IIIIIIIII
'IIIIII
fill

II .
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£—

  

Ulll'.’

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==0Houm um03£u50m 0AM How Guam HCUEQOH0>GQ
UHEOGOUNIOAOOm Goaumuflcmmuo mcwcdem Hmuucoog

I!

i
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7

II!

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I

   

  

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"monsom

24

and dust storms occur, particularly in the Coastal Plain
and foothills. Rainfall is concentrated in relatively
short, but heavy local storms, especially in the Western
Scarp Slope and the Dissected Highlands. The average
annual rainfall is between 5—20 inches depending on

particular area in the Region.

Population and Labor Force

 

The availability of reliable demographic data is
very important for planning purposes. It is necessary for
assessing per capita income, increases in level of income,
the future labor force, the existing and expected needs for
health facilities, educational institutions, social
activities programs, industrial projects, to name a few.

At the time of conducting this study demographic data in
Saudi Arabia was scarce. But, for planning purposes the
Central Planning Organization in Saudi Arabia has made
some population estimates which will be used in this study.
It is considered to be the only reliable and official data
at the present time. According to this estimation the
population of this Region is about 1.77 million. Table 3
shows the distribution of this population as follows.

This table shows that the majority of the population,

92 percent, are living in the rural areas of the region.
Eighty two percent of them are engaged in agricultural
_activities, although the writer has some observations con-

cerning the number of settled and nomadic population. It

r.)

.H .a «Dmema .eapepa

Hpomm .cpmwmmv pmcmmHnsdca .¢ ommcm .uuomom EflumucH .GOHmom umoscusom may now

 

swam ucoEQOHo>oo OHEocoomloHoom .GOADMNHcmmHO maflccmam Hmuucmu noondom

 

 

was was aoa ama am aooa
6mm coma oma omea maa Nana acamem pmmeeusom
H6069
Aeuaaaa pee
seepaueso
.xuam Had
oa mma om maH HA pom 666m: .m
06 mea m6 cam m6 mme canes
NH mm m mm NH 46 aepflez
ma mmm mm mas mm cmm Mama
em mea mm RAN 6 m- aeeem
6H me as am ma 40H esmam
iooo.HC
UHUMEOZ Uwauumm HMHDDHSUHHOQ Hmudm
HMDSDHDOAAmg Icoz amusm amuoe swans Hence mocfl>onm

 

.Aooo.av mama .eaneua

Hpsmm mo cofimwm umozcusom .coHuonHuumHo muH can cowumasmom poppedummul.m manna

26

is felt that they are over estimated because out migration
to the central belt, Jedda, Riyadh and Dhahran has played
an important role, especially in the early 19605, during
the drought period, but unfortunately I could not find
other figures available to compare. This figure shows a
slight difference in the same area between 1966 and 1972,
as was mentioned in Table 3. This comes as a result of
changes in the area. Between the year 1962 and 1971 there
had been some increase in the urban population as a result
of the urbanization trend and the economic activities which
took place in the urban center of the region and other
activities in other regions which attract the people of
this region, especially during the dry period. Although
at the present time, there is no firm data on the dis-
tribution of the population of this region according to
age group. It is generally conceded that out-migration
has affected the male age group 15-59 years of age and
improvement of health conditions and services in other
regions of the Kingdom has its influence upon the age
group 0-10 years. It could be that these figures, as it
shows in Table 4, is over-estimated for these two groups.

Concerning the labor force in this Region, we can
find some data on the distribution of labor force according
to economic activities. In 1966, the Central Department
of Statistics did a demographic survey to find out the

labor force distribution in the Kingdom. Table 5 shows the

27

.m .a .Ameaa .eanepa apnea
.cpmwamv phenom cocmflanodcs .coflmmm umoBSDSOm on» mo puma oanmmmeEma mcflcumo
1:00 mouoz 0>Humucoe .OO¢AH use coflumuwcmmuo mcflccmam Hmuucoo "wousom

 

 

 

 

 

omna 0mm omm comm omhm ommm mood Ham
Awo.v v

Hm hm we omN omH owH Imm
Awm.omv

«mm mav mnv ommm ovma ovma mmuma
Awa.mmv

nmv «em mmm coma own omm «Hum
Awm.mav

mam oma mva com omv omv vuo
bboo.av

Hmuoe onEom onz Hmubww onEom mHmZ msouw 0mg

coflmom umoznuoom magnum Hpsmm

 

.Aooo.ao mhma .xmm can mm<
ma commom umo3£usom 0:» ca one afinmum wczmm ca coaumasmom pmumfiwumMIl.v manna

28

.m .m .Awbma .Mfinmu< Hcsmm

.smmmfimv uuommm ownmwansaco .coflmmm ummznusom may we mumo owsmmumOEma wcflcumo
[coo mmuoz m>HuwucmB .OUmAH cam :oHumecwmuo mcaccmam Hmuucwo "moudom

 

 

o.ooa www.moo~a o.ooa mmm.nm~ Hayes
«.0 mnv.« m.o mmv mmflufl>fluo¢ umnuo
m.a~ mvm.mam ¢.m mno.nm mmofl>umm
v.q oao.vv m.H oom.m mmmuoum ..ssou .uuommcmue
m.m Hon.mm m.m mmm.mH moumEEOU
m.o Hmm.m m.o mmm.m umumz cam mwm .huflofluuomam
m.oa mmo.voa n.m mon.oa coauosuumcoo
H.v mmo.av v.m mmm.m unflusuumwdcmz
m.~ www.mm ~.o «we maflmuumsv .mcflcflz
«.mv vn>.vmw v.¢b nmm.mam xooumm>fla .musuasoflum¢
w HmQEdz w Hmnfidz

 

manmu< stmm

 

coflmum cumnusom

>uw>wuo< mo mmwa

 

.wmma

cw mflnmué wnsmm mo Boomcwx mnu can :onmm umm3nuaom How mmwufl>wu04
owEocoom mo mama ha wwHMflmmmHU .um>0 flaw mama» ma mcomumm nmhoHQEmln.m manna

29

employed person classified by type of economic activity for
Southwest Region and the Kingdom. At this moment there is
no firm statistical evidence that there is a large scale
out migration from the Southwest Region. However, there
are strong indications that there is a steady and con—
siderable out migration that could have been stimulated by
the drought period in recent years. Also in Table 5 we
notice that the people who are working in manufacturing are

I

less than 5 percent on the national level. But, information /
was obtained indicating that 62 percent in the Central <
Region (Najd), 66 percent in the Western Region (Hijaz),

and 25 percent in the Eastern Region of those who are

engaged in the manufacturing sector come from the South-
western Region. In recent studies, employment estimates

for the Southwest Region have been done by ILACO for the
Central Planning Organization. These estimates, as shown

in Table 6, indicates that in 1972 there was about 235,000

or 66 percent of the male labor force in the region

engaged in agricultural activities, but 40,000 of them were
emigrated to non-agricultural sectors. It shows that

100,000 or 34 percent of the male labor force are engaged

in non-agricultural occupations in the region. Twenty-

four thousand or 8 percent and 76,000 or 26 percent of

those males engaged in the non-agricultural occupations

are in manufacturing, construction and services (see

Table 6). This estimation did not include the female

30

 

.m .a .imsaa .mfiamua Hosmm .aummamc scammm ummzausom map How
swam ucmEmon>mo UHEocoomloHoom .coflumNHcmmuo mcflccmam Hmnucwu "mouoom

Awwmv on mmofl>umm

Awmv «N cofluosuumcoo
.mcfluduommscmz

manwmfiammz mcflcHE .mcfimuumno

"mmfluomwumo ucmeonQEm

 

Awooav Awomv vamv

mom mma OOH
Henna
I can ov+ onE wuoumumaz
cofimmm ummznusom
mam mmm om ca gonna mam:
om: owl oal mucmnmafififl mam:
icoaumasmom mo mama
mum mom on mOHOM Honma mam:

Aooo.av
Acowumasmom
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kuoe amusuasofiumfl

 

.tha cw cowmmm umm3nusom How mmumEaumm ucmahoamfim monom Honmq mamzll.m mHQmB

31

labor force which is an important factor in the rural area
of this region.It is the author's personal opinion that
this part was neglected because of the sensitivity of con-
ducting a survey or studies among females without using a
female researcher. In general, female activities in Saudi
Arabia, either in urban or rural areas, need more recog-
nition and study. As long as the number of young, edu-
cated Saudi females is increasing, the closer they come to
their effort and activities being recognized.

Eight municipalities exist in this Region. In
1970, Doxiadis, according to an agreement with the Central
Planning Organization in Saudi Arabia, prepared a study
aimed at helping to design a five-year developmental plan
for municipalities of the Kingdom. In that study they
estimated the population of the eight municipalities of
the Southwest Region as shown in Table 7.

The difference in figures between this estimation
of 1970 and the other one of 1972, as shown in Table 3
(p. 25) can be noted. The municipal population of Bahah
was unknown in 1970, and the figure of its urban population
was about 6,000 in the estimation of 1972. Although there
is a difference in the estimates of the urban population
it is not a large difference and did not change the fact
that the population majority of this region is living in

the rural areas. Other studies supporting this fact show

32

Table 7.--Estimated Population in Municipalities, South-
west Region, Saudi Arabia, 1970.

 

 

Municipality Province or District Population
Abha Asir 17,500
Abu Arish Jizan 7,000
Al Baha Bahah Unknown
Bisha Bisha 15,000
Jizan Jizan 25,000
Najran Najran 22,000
Alqunfudhah S. Mecca 6,000
Al-Lith S. Mecca 3,000

 

Source: Central Planning Organization and ILACO,
Tentative Notes Concerning Demographic Data of the S.W.R.,
Unpublished Report (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1972), p. 7.
slight changes happening, without affect, in a lO-year
period, as Table 8 indicates.

In the conclusion of this argument about the
Region's population there is an estimation concerning the
population growth in the Region within the next fifteen
years. Table 9 indicates the growth rate of the popu—
lation and the potential male economic active population,
age 15-59, and estimated potential school population.

It can be assumed that the annual growth rate was
based on the outcome of the Socio-Economic Development Plan
designed for the Region, which will be summarized in the

following chapter. Social, health, educational programs

33

Table 8.--Percent Distribution of POpulation by Urban,
Rural and Migratory Status, Southwest Region,
Saudi Arabia, 1962 and 1972.

 

 

Status 1962 1972

% %
Urban 6 8
Rural 84 86
Migratory 10 6
Total 100% 100%

 

Source: Central Planning Organization and ILACO,
Tentative Notes Concerning Demographic Data of the S.W.R.,
Unpublished Report TRiyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1972).

 

and the economic activities, especially in the fields of
agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism, which were imple-
mented in that plan, will affect the population growth

rate.

Resources

 

Agriculture

 

Physiographic Areas

The physiography of the Region is determined by
the edge of a mountain massively uplifted during the for-
mation of the Red Sea Trough. This edge bisects the survey

area into the Eastern and Western parts. The huge cuerta

.coHumNHcmmuo mcflccmam Hmuucmo an mcoo

 

 

 

M uponmu owcmmumOEmo cfl mmanmu Ucm mmucmflm Hmum>mm Eoum ommoam>mo “moucom

000.NHN 000.Hmm 000.com wo.m 000.Hmh 000.mmm.m omlmmma

000.mma 000.0ma 000.0Hm wn.m 000.mhm 000.~ma.~ 000a

000.m0a 000.nna 000.mnv wm.m 000.5ma 000.0Hm.a mnma
000.m>m nu II 000.mn>.a mmma

m Ha mwo mmlma wood 0 m

swarmismom Hoonam m>MCWapMMwmmmo nuwomo .mmmuocH sompwomwo Mama

Hmwucmuom pmumeflumm .u d . m Hmsccfi .u H m

mam: ammucmuom

 

\\\WHHHV\\\\ .mflnmud flpsmm .coflmmm umm3£usom .0mmalmhma .nuBOHU cowumasmom pmumfiflummal.m OHQMB

35

gradually dips to the East but has a steep and tremendously
eroded scarp slope facing West.1

The geological formation has resulted in seven
distinct physiographic zones, not only from an ecological
point of View, but also from that of development potentials.
From East to West these zones are:

--The Coastal Plain, from MSL to 100 m (333 feet)
above MSL.

--The Foothills, from 100 to 900 m (333-2990 feet)
above MSL.

--The Western Scarp slope, the steeply eroded area
from 900 m (about 2990 feet) to the edge of the
escarpment.

-—The Dissected Highlands, the deepest dissected
part of the massif (Hijay—Asir escarpment).

--The Upper Wadi (Valley) Area, a transitory zone
East of the Dissected Highlands, between 1,400
and 1,800 m (4662-5994 feet) above MSL.

--The Middle Wadi (Valley) Area, part of the dipping
cuesta between 1,000 m (3,330 feet) and 1,400 m

(4,662 feet) above MSL.

 

lCentral Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for the Southwest Region, Interim Report,
Phase A, Unpublished (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1972), p. 7.

 

 

36

--The Lower Wadi (Valley) Area, a deposition zone~

less than 1,000 m (3,330 feet) above MSL.l

Crop Production

 

Irrigated and Rainfed
Cropping Land

In this Region two consulting institutions,
Sogreah and Italconsult, worked on a contract with the
Central Planning Organization and gave assessments for the
mid 1960s. Some 150,000 ha (about 375,000 acres) of land
was devoted to irrigated agriculture in the Region, and
either permanently or regularly interrupted by fallow
periods.“ This includes both the land irrigated with
ground water, pumped from wells (22,500-25,000 ha =
56,250-62,500 acres), and that intermittently flooded by
surface water from Wadis (Valley) (125,000-130,000 ha =
312,500-325,000 acres). Over 20,000 ha (50,000 acres)
of the well irrigated land was found in the Upper and
Middle Wadi (Valley) areas and the Dissected Highlands and
hence in the Bisha, Najran, Baha and Asir Provinces.2
Just in the recent year well irrigation became popular in
the Coastal Plain and in the Foothills areas. However, it
is still limited to some l,500-2,500 ha (3,750-6,250

acres). The area irrigated with Wadi water varies widely

 

1Ibid., p. 7.

2Ibid., p. 8.

37

from year to year. As far as the Coastal Plain and the
Wadi irrigated terraces of the Foothills are concerned,
this applies both to land where flood spreading occurs and
to naturally flooded areas. In addition to the irrigated
land some 235,000 ha (587,500 acres) rainfed cropping land
was available in the Coastal Plain, the Foothills, the
Western Scarp slope and the Dissected Highlands. In dry
years only a very small portion of this land is actually
cultivated, during relatively wet years double cropping,
i.e., a summer and winter crop, would be possible. Table
10 shows the size of irrigated and rainfed cropping land

and its location.

Cropped Areas

 

Cereals are by far considered the most common
crops, in particular on the flood-spreading and naturally
flooded land in the Coastal Plain, the Wadi—irrigated
terraces in the Foothills and the rainfed cropping land.
Even on well-irrigated land the cereals are among the
major crops. Millet and wheat are the principal rainfed
crops: millet is in the Coastal Plain and the Foothills,
wheat is in the Dissected Highlands. The area cultivated
with these cereals is subject to wide fluctuations, because
of the irregular rainfall. During the dry years of the
late 1960s and the early 19703, e.g., practically no millet
could be grown in the Coastal Plain and the Foothills,

whereas some years earlier about 84,000 ha (210,000 acres)

38

 

.He .d .imedm .mmmeud
endow .npmxflmv pmnmfiansmcs .4 mmmcm .uuomwm EflumucH .coflmmm ummBQuDOm on» new

swam ucwEmon>wo ofiEocoomuofloom .coflumNflcmmuo ocficcmam Hmuucmu "mousom

 

 

 

 

.umwm
manmuo>mm xaamoflmoHoumEHHo m 0» Hmmmu pcwa mcflmaouo pwwcflmu mo mmmum mafia
.UcmH empoon >Hucmuufl6umuCH 0cm omummfluua Hamzw
Amwuom 000.0000 000.0mm Ammuom 000.0nm0 000.00H A4909
-u- Amduoe oom.0 c oom.~ deemez
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Ammuom om~.mmav 00H.0v Ammuom 00>.Hm v 005.0m Mama
Ammuom 000.00 0 000.0H mmuom 000.HN 0 000.0 cmnmm
Ammuom 000.H0mv 00¢.vva Ammuom 000.0HNO 000.00 cmNfih
Ammuom 000.nm V 000.0H Ammuom 000.~m V 000.0m mono: nusom
m>fiumuumflcwso¢
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nun Amwuom 000.0H 0 000.0 mmud H003 mappflz
nu- Ammuoe ome.ma 0 oom.e mmu< ewes Hedda
Ammuom 000.~0Hv 000.00 Ammuom 000.N~ 0 000.0 mwcmazmflm pmuommmwo
Ammuom 000.0m v 000.NH In: mmon mumom cumummz
Amwuom 00>.mm v 000.0H Ammuom 000.0n V 000.m~ maaacuoom
Ammuom 000.mmmv 000.NOH Ammuom 000.00N0 000.00H cflmHm Hmummoo
oanmmumoflmmcm
npcmq mafimmouo pmmcfimm mpcmq pmummeuuH uHcD mmu<

 

cowmmm umm3susom map CH Am: cfiv pcmq mcHQmouU Umucfimm 0cm pwummfluuHII.0H manna

.mhma .uHcD m>HumuumACHEp€ 0cm oacmmumonxnm an

39

were cultivated.1 Similar fluctuations characterize the
cultivation of wheat on the terraces of the Dissected
Highlands. Also the cultivation of sorghum, the prevalent
crop on flood-spreading and naturally flooded land in the
Coastal Plain and on Wadi-irrigated Foothills terraces,
usually varies widely from year to year. The other crops,
such as fruits (including dates), vegetables, alfalfa and
oil seeds are still of minor importance in comparison with
the cereals. The area cultivated with these crops, however,
is gradually increasing, especially on well-irrigated land.
The assessment of the acreages of the main crops cultivated
in the Southwest Region as done by Sogreah and Italconsult
is summarized in Table 11. The figures of this table
represent a more or less "normal" situation, in that,

e.g., for the Dissected Highlands and the Upper Wadi Area
the unfavorable cropping year-~1966—67 and the favorable

year--l967-68 have been averaged.2

Crop Production Volumes

 

In a normal year over 150,000 tons of cereals are
produced in the Region; sorghum being the most important
single crop with some 85,000 tons. The production of fodder
amounts to 150,000-200,000 tons of alfalfa, 500,000-550,000

tons of cereal, green fodder and 600,000-650,000 tons of

 

1Ibid., p. 11.

2Ibid., p. 11.

4()

Table ll.--Areas (in ha) Cultivated with Major Crops in the Southwest Region by Physiographic Unit

 

 

in 1972.
. Dissected .
Coastal FOOthllls Highlands M1dd1e
_ Western Wadi Total
Plain Scar Upper Area
p Wadi Area
Cereals:
Sor hum 73,800 51,700 7,900 300 133,700
9 (184,500 acres) (129,250 acres) (19,750 acres) (750) (334,250 acres)
. 63,900 19,400 -- -— 83,300
Millet
(159,750 acres) (48,500 acres) (208,250 acres)
Wheat -- 2,100 36,600 1,200 42,900
(5,250 acres) (91,500 acres) (3,000) (107,250 acres)
—- 5,900 2,600 400 8,900
Barley
(14,750 acres) (6,500 acres) (1,000) (22,250 acres)
Dates -- -- -- 3,100 3,100
(7,750) (7,750 acres)
Fruit tr es -- -- 1,300 100 1,400
8 (3,250 acres) (250) (3,500 acres)
-- -- 2,200 300 2,500
V
egetables (5,500 acres) (750) (6,250 acres)
Oil seeds 8,100 2,400 -- -- 10,500
(20,250 acres (6,000 acres) (26,250 acres)
Green fodder:
-- -- 1,500 1,300 2,800
Alfalfa (3,750 acres) (3,250) (7,000 acres)
Cereals -- -- 2,200 700 2,900
(5,500 acres) (1,750) (7,250 acres)
Unspecified 1,000 1,200 -- -- 2,200
Crops (2,500 acres (3,000 acres) (5,500 acres)
TOTAL 146,800 82,700 57,300 7,400 294,200
(367,000 acres) (206,750 acres) (143,250 acres) (18,500) (735,500 acres)

 

aThe figures for Dissected Highlands refer to a so—called average year.

Source: Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic Development Plan for the Southwest
Region, Interim Report, Phase A, Unpublished (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1972), p. 12.

 

41

dry roughage.l Table 12 shows the production of major

crops in the Region by physiographic unit.

Livestock Production

 

The drought of the late 1960s has seriously
affected the livestock population of the Region, particularly
the nomadic herds which were nearly decimated. Table 13
shows the estimated present livestock of the Region.

These figures, according to ILACO, are below the
figure assessed by Sogreah and Italconsult. It is expected
that the droughts have contributed to both the decline of
the number of Nomads and loss in the livestock population.
It is not known how far this number, estimated to be
250,000 for 1968, will have fallen.2 "The average annual
production of livestock products in the Region amounts to

some 51,500 tons of milk and about 5,300 tons of meat."3

Gross and Net Values of Crop
and Livestock Production

For an "average" year the gross values of crop and

livestock production are estimated at SR4 125-140 million

 

1Ibid., p. 12.

2It was not possible to indicate the present dis-
tribution of the livestock population over the physio-
graphic and administrative areas due to the decrease of
herds related to the recent droughts and the mobility of
the nomads.

Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for Southwest Region, p. 13.

4SR = Saudi Riyal ($1 = 3.55 SR).

 

42

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ummBQusom or» now swam ucmamdam>mo oaeocoomnofloom .coHumNHcmmuo mcflccmam Hmuucwu "moucom

 

 

 

 

 

000.H 000.0 000.0 000.HOH 000.0 000.0v 000.0H 000.v0 qmeoe
000 000.0 000.0 000.N 000 000.a In 00v mmum 0003 mavnflz
00m (I 000 000.0 000 000.v (u 00>.N «mum H003 ummma
000 (I 000.H 000.00 000.m 000.Hm In 000.0 mpcchmwm pmuommmfic
.. u- .. 000.00 000.0 000.~ 000 000.0 00000 00000 000000:
In (I (I 000.00 In (I 000.HH 000.0m maawnuoom
(I In (I 000.m0 (I In 000.0 000.00 camam Hmummoo
muwcuo mwumo mmanmummm> H0009 mmaumm 000:3 umaaflz Edzmuom
muflsum mammumu

 

.Amwusmww pmpcsou .mcou
oauumzv mnma .uacs UfiQQMHmonmnm an cowmwm umwznusom map 20 mmouu H0002 mo cOquSUoumII.NH manna

43

Table 13.--Estimated Present Livestock of the Southwest
Region, 1972.

 

 

Settled and Nomadic

Semi-settled Stock Total

Stock Raising Raising
Cattle 150,000 --- 150,000
Sheep 550,000 300,000 850,000
Goats 550,000 200,000 750,000
Camels 35,000 70,000 105,000
Donkeys 65,000 10,000 75,000

 

Source: Central Planning Organization, Socio-
Economic Development Plan for the Southwest Region,
Interim Report, Phase A, Unpublished (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
1972), p. 14.

 

and SR 75-85 million, respectively; the net values are
estimated to be SR 95-110 million and SR 30-40 million.1
The distribution of the latter values over the adminis-
trative areas is indicated in Table 14. It is stressed
that the distribution of livestock values have been rather
arbitrary on the basis of field observation and judgment
by the specialist of ILACO and the Central Planning Organi-
zation. The distribution of the gross and net values of
crop production by physiographic area is indicated in
Table 15. Because of the paucity of data such a distribu-
tion could not be estimated for the values of livestock

production.

 

1Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for Southwest Region, p. 15.

 

 

44

.0H .0 .Ameaa .000000
00:00 .npmmmmv 000mflabsmca .0 mmmcm .uuommm EflumecH .000000 umm3cusom may now
cmam ucmEmon>mo UHEocoomnoHoom .coHuMNflcmmuo mcflccmam Hmuucmu "mousom

 

 

 

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an Ham» smmmum><s cm Mom coHuocpoum xooumo>HA new mouu mo mmsaw> umznl.0a manna

45

.0H .0 .imsmaw.0000p0
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0000 acmemon>mQ anocoom:oHoom .COHumNHcmmuo mcflccmam Hmuucmo "mousom

 

 

 

msam>
000:00 00 0 00:00 0 00:00 00:00 002
msam>
000:000 00 00:0 00 00:0 00:00 00 mmouw
coflmmm mmué mmnd mmoam
ummscuso0 0003 0003 mmmmwmmwm 00000 000000000 Hmwmwmu
00009 000002 00000 . cumummz

 

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000 now» smwmum>¢= :0 How cofluospoum mouu mo mmsHm> 002 can mmouw::.00 manm9

46

The gross and net values of crop and livestock pro-
duction for the year 1971-72 most probably remains
below those of an average year as the weather con-
ditions during 1971-72 were generally unfavorable for
crop and livestock production. About SR 100 million
could be an appropriate estimate of the total net value
of crop and livestock production for that particular
year. The net value of well-irrigated agriculture
alone would have been SR 30 million.

Food Balance of the Region

 

The Region is deficient in cereals, fruits (including
dates), vegetables and meat. It is estimated that per year
about 60,000-70,000 tons of cereals and 150,000 tons of
fruits and vegetables (including dates) have to be imported
to meet the demand of the Region's 1.77 million inhabitants.2
As indicated in the previous discussion about population
in this chapter, the population figures are only an esti—
mation, therefore there is an impression that the size and
the amount of food to be imported will be accurate when
the National Census, which took place in the middle of
1974, by the Statistical Department, in the Kingdom, pub-
lishes the actual population in the Region. It could be
that the actual figures are lower than the estimated 1.77

million, but to date it is the only figure officially used.

Agricultural per Capita Incomes

 

In an unfavorable year like 1971—72, the average

income from farming and stock raising would be as low as

 

lIbid., p. 14.

2101a.

47

SR 100-150 per person. The vegetable growers around
Najran, the date growers in Bisha and farmers with tube
well-irrigated land near Samtah in the Coastal Plain
generally earn above average incomes, namely some SR 400
per capita. Most of the farmers with rainfed cropping
land, on the other hand, were far worse off, with around
SR 75 per capita (caput) per year. In a year with about
average weather conditions, the incomes might be in the
order of SR 125-200 per capita (caput). Table 16 shows
the average net values of crOp and livestock production
per capita of agricultural population. It can be noted
that the farming population in this table is slightly
different than the figure estimated earlier in Table 3.
ILACO stated that this estimate in Table 16 is derived
from an agricultural census, therefore, they suggested
that these estimates are related, much better, to the per
capita incomes, as observed during some field trips in

the Region. The poor incomes earned from agriculture have
forced many farm workers to try and earn additional income
from jobs outside agriculture, either in the Region itself
or elsewhere in the country. The out migration apparently
started lO-lS years ago in the Dissected Highlands and
Eastern Wadi Area. At the time being, according to the
study done by CPO, there is much out migration in the
Coastal Plain and Foothills. Particularly in the Dis-

sected Highlands a considerable part of the higher-lying

"\

48

.00: .0 . 803 .0000:
00000 .0000000 00000000000 .0 00000 .000000 5000000 .000000 000300000 000 000
0000 000EM000>00 00EO0000:00000 .000000000000 00000000 0000000 "000000

 

 

ZOHUmm Emm3mBDOm

 

s s s
000 000 000 0 000 000 00909
00 000.000 000.00 0000000 0000802
000 000.00 000.0 000n02
000 000.00 000.00 00000
000 000.000 000.00 0000
000 000.000 000.00 00000
000 000.000 000.00 00000
000 000.000 000.m0 00002 00000
00000000000
0000000:0500
000 0000000
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00000 000 0000000000 000000000 0000 0 000 0000000
000000>00 000 0000 0000000000 :000 000000>00 000 0>000000000E00
00 0000> 002 00000>0 0008000 0000 mo 0000> 002

 

.0000 .000000 00000 .000000 ummznusom
.0000 0>00000m000800 >0 000» 000002 0 000 .0000000000 000000000000
00 00000 000 0000000000 0000m0>00 000 0000 00 00000> 002 00000>0::.00 0000B

49

rainfed terraces have been abandoned for farming. According
to ILACO increased erosion affecting the lower-lying ter-
races will be the result unless an afforestation program

is undertaken.

Forestry

 

Saudi Arabia is not rich in forests. There are
only some natural forests scattered in the Southwest
Region, mainly in the Dissected Highlands. "The forests
are not very heterogeneous, the major species is

Juniperus Procera and the other kind are Acacia Seyal,

 

 

Acecia Tortilis, Tamarix Aphylla and Ziziphus Spina

 

 

 

Christi."l The present gross value of forestry production
in the whole country is estimated around SR 20 million.
It used to be higher according to other studies done by
the Forest Management Division of the Ministry of Agricul-
ture, but more stringent control and effective protection
have lowered the production.
The Southwest Region's share in the national production
is 65-75 percent; the value added component is around
70 percent of the gross value. The value added in the

Southwest Region is around SR 10 millioB a year
(equivalent to SR 50 per rural family).

 

1Ministry of Agriculture and Water, Broadlines of
Forestry Development in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
1972), p. 1.

2Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for the Southwest Region, p. 18.

 

 

50

Fisheries

 

According to ILACO and Sogreah the Region's fishing
fleet consists of 200-250 small boats, providing full-time
employment to 750-l,000 fishermen. The total annual
catches might range from 1,000 to 1,500 tons of which the
gross value is SR 3.0-4.5 million. The non factor costs
of fishing are SR 3,500-4,000 per boat/year. Hence, the
net value of production could be in the order of SR 2.3-
3.5 million per year. Part-time fishing is practiced by
a number of farmers living near the coast; normally they
use fish-traps, but also nets or rods. The earning varies
widely with the season, namely, between SR 20 to over SR 80

per fisherman per week.1

Agricultural Extension,
Training and Research

 

 

Agricultural extension, training and research are
closely interwoven. All are carried on by the Ministry
of Agriculture and Water, through its branches in the
Region.2 There is a newly established research station at
Hakmah, but no definite investigations are made yet. Field
experiments are conducted by the extension staff who are
also in charge of training farmers.

The extension service in the Region is staffed with
some 800 persons, about one per 140-160 farm families.

 

lIbid., p. 18.

2There is one Directorate in Abha, and 12 Agricul-
tural Units and affixes all over the Region.

51

There are, however, less than 100 extension workers,
plant protection officers and veterinary specialists
among them. Only 50 of these are really qualified and
trained. The activities of the extension staff are
mainly confined to small scale demonstrations and to
such special services as the supply of seed, planting
material and fertilizers, plant protection and
veterinary care. The agricultural machinery services
are transferred to the private sector. The supply of
seed and planting matirial mainly comprises vegetable
seed and fruit trees.
But, still, the extension units are not able to meet the
farmers demand for fertilizers which have been increased
in the last three years in regard to quantities and
qualities. Therefore, private retailers are getting the
venefit of that. One of the important activities of the
extension staff is crop spraying, but because it is a
small staff, they are not able to guarantee timely assis-
tance, therefore, many large vegetable farmers have
decided to buy the plant protection equipment themselves.
In other areas the spraying services are mainly rendered
to the nearby large estates, while the new settlers in
the more remote areas are not served. The staff of almost
all the field branches includes a veterinary surgeon and
an assistant. The veterinarians are, in general, not very
mobile. They leave for the rural areas mainly during

outbreaks of contagious diseases.

In all, some 40 staff members are engaged in the
veterinarian section. Veterinary care is estimated

 

1Vegetable seed is usually provided free of
charge. Between SR 0.40 and SR 1.00 is charged for the
fruit trees. Private retailers often charge SR 10-12 per
tree.

52

to make up SR 500,000 of the annual budget of the

field branches. The impact of the veterinary section

on the livestock economy appears to be very small,

because preventive care has hardly been organized

yet.
However, it should be realized that agricultural extension
is extremely difficult in such an area as the Southwest
Region whose communication system is in very bad condition
and in need of much improvement. Later in this chapter
there will be a description of the road and transportation
condition of the Region.

The training of farmers and their sons has not
yet been started, although the need for this training is
strongly felt, especially among the new (ex-Bedouin)
settlers in Bisha, who lack the knowledge involved in
modern vegetable growing. The program in Bisha started
in the late 19603 on a limited scale.

Concerning research, the Hakman Research Station
is the only institute for agricultural research in the
Region. At this institution it is planned that research
mainly in support of the Jizan Development Scheme will be
done.2 Several years ago, two areas, Bisha and Baljurski,

were selected for agricultural research sub-stations. In

Bisha the land has been allocated and research officers

 

1Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for the Southwest Region, p. 19.

2New Dam was completed in 1970 in Jizan and it is
expected to help improve the water supply for agricultural
irrigation.

 

53

were stationed there in 1963, but no funds have been
assigned. In Baljurski the situation is practically the

same .

Credit

The Saudi Arabian Agricultural Bank is the main
supplier of institutional credit in the Region. Non-
institutional credit is provided by traders and shop-
keepers, relatives and friends. The Bank's credit to the
farmers in the Region is estimated at SR 22,000,000 (some
8,850 loans) during the fiscal years 1964-65 through
1970-71. For the whole Kingdom the figure was SR 81,587,000
(about 21,172 loans).1 The following Tables 17 and 18
show the number and value of loans granted by various
branches of the Agriculture Bank for the whole country and
the distribution of the loans in Abha Southwest Region in
1969-70.

It has to be noticed that as it is shown in
Table 17, Abha Branch, which is located in the Southwest
Region, ranks first in the number of medium-term loans
(739 loans) or about 28.7 percent of the total number of
loans.2 One important factor which needs to be emphasized

later on in Chapter 5 is the fact that the

 

1Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for the Southwest Region, p. 20.

2Saudi Arabian Agricultural Bank, Sixth Annual
Report, Sept. l969-Sept. 1970 (Jedda, Saudi Arabia, 1970),
p. 15.

 

 

 

 

54

 

 

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55

Table 18.--Distribution of Medium Term Loans in Abha
Branch by Purpose, 1969-70, Southwest Region.

 

 

Objective Value SR %
Engines 1,258,025 52.9
Pumps 184,394 7.8
Pipes 49,077 2.1
Drilling, Deepening and
Casing of Wells 134'160 5'6
Livestock 389,975 16.4
Plants 19,618 0.8
Ploughing and Levelling 30,753 1.3
Construction Materials 94,019 4.0
Fertilizers 5,100 0.2
Transportation & Installation 81,761 3.4
Others 130,147 5.5
TOTAL 2,377,029 100.0%

 

Source: Saudi Arabian Agricultural Bank, Sixth
Annual Report, Sept. 1969-Sept. 1970 (Jedda, Saudi Arabia,
1970), p. 42.

 

56

non-institutional credit is still more popular in the
Region than that of the Agricultural Bank. It can be
assumed that the main reason for this is the farmer's
ignorance of the bank's program and activities, the small
number of widely scattered offices, the comparatively
complicated, time-consuming procedures and the rigid
repayment schedule. A result of an interview done by ILACO
staff, for the Central Planning Organization, with 234
farmers, shows that only 29 had borrowed money from the
Bank, while 105 had preferred to contract non-institutional

loans.

Marketing

In the Dissected Highlands, the Foothills, and the
Coastal Plain where the production of agricultural com-
modities is mainly geared to the needs of home consumption,
agricultural marketing is still in its infancy. Small
quantities of cereals and some fodder are the only products
marketed, in addition to a number of sheep and goats. In
the Upper and Middle Wadi areas, especially around Najran
and Bisha, where larger marketable surpluses are produced,
such as dates, tomatoes, watermelons, and other fruits and
vegetables are sold in many other areas in the Region and
at cities such as Taif, Mecca, and Jedda, whose roads and
transportation make this easier for the farmer to carry

their production to these cities.

57

Usually the farmers market their produce themselves,
especially within the Region itself. A few engage
brokers. Prices tend to fluctuate sharply because of
the poor communications. There are no cold storage
facilities or processing units available for fruits
and vegetables.

In the agricultural sector of the Region, there are
some activities undertaken by the various government
agencies or they are under study, such as:

--The various programs and studies with respect to the
improvement and development of agriculture in the
Wadi-Jizan Valley. One of these programs concerns

the establishment and expansion of the Hakmah Research
Station.

 

--A number of flood protection measures, i.e., the con-
struction of a cement barrier in the Wadi-Habawna and
the repair of barriers around Al Qunfudhah.

--The Wadi-Najran Study that will provide a better
insight into the potentials of an optimum exploitation
of the ground and surface water resources in the
Najran Valley.

 

--Very valuable research on the possibilities of and the
problems related to well-irrigated agriculture in the
Tihamas; the Programfis prepared by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Water, in close cooperation with FAO.

 

--A large number of programs for drinking-water supply,
such as those concerning the Abha and the supply of
the urban centers of Najran, Abu Arish, Kiyad and
Tathlith.

 

--Research into the potentials of marine resource exploi-
tation, carried out by the Marine Research Station in
Jeddah, in cooperation with the University College of
North Wales.

 

lCentral Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for the Southwest Region, p. 2.

 

 

21bid., pp. 20-21.

58

Mining

For decades several reconnaissance surveys have
been carried out by the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals
and other authoritative institutions in the country, but
nowhere have economically feasible mining activities been
determined in the Region. Search is still going on with
the technical help of many international experts and
institutions. However, certain ancient mines and prospects,
as a group, might contain possibilities of exploitation,
particularly if several metals could be processed. "One
such group might be the Wadi-Bidah and the Ablah-Wadi
shows prospects and the A1 Azig mines, with emphasis on
the attraction of copper, silver, zinc, lead and gold."1
However, transportation and water supply provide problems
rendering mining and milling expensive. Other mineral
sources are found, such as sulphides in Wadi-Wassat and
Wadi—Qatan but, since sulphur and sulphuric acid are
cheaply extracted from natural gas in the Eastern Region,
its economic value in the Southwest Region is very low.
The same applies to rock salt, which is found in Jizan,
but has a low economic value because the world market
prices of salt are low and the quality of Jizan salt is
not high. Cement raw materials are available in the Asir
and Jizan provinces and fairly good to excellent marble

is found in Bisha.

 

lIbid., p. 21.

59

The geological formations in the area do not give
rise to optimistic expectations as to cheap energy
sources. Drilling in the Red Sea has not been
encouraging either. Oil and gas have been noted, but
the wells provide such problems as high temperature
and pressure as well as thick salt sections.

However, transportation, lack of harbor facilities and the

mining code are not very attractive for private companies.

Manufacturing and Construction

 

According to the World Bank, Saudi Arabia has to
be classified as a "non-industrial" country.2 The present
share of the manufacturing industries, including the
petroleum refineries, in the annual GDP is 8.5 percent.

In the Southwest Region the manufacturing industry is even
less important.
In the Kingdom about four percent of the professional
population is employed in manufacturing establishments.
In the Southwest Region, however, this percentage is
about 2.5, i.e., approximately 10,000 persons of 15
years of age and older.
There are several reasons causing the low level of develop-
ment of manufacturing industries in the Southwest Region.
Most important of them are:
1. lack of cheap energy resources,

2. lack of industrial raw materials,

3. the isolated location of many ports of the Region,

 

lIbid., p. 21.

2The International Bank for Reconstruction and
Deve10pment, World Bank Operations, p. 5.

3Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for the Southwest Region.

 

 

 

60

4. lack of transportation means. As an example, in
sea transportation there is an important port,
Jizan, but its in bad condition and was inade-
quately equipped to handle modern freight traffic.
Also, most of the roads which connect the cities
are in poor condition. The best transportation
means, at the present time, is by air, but trans—
porting industrial and manufacturing equipment by
air freight is not economically feasible. Great
efforts are being made, by the government, to
improve the road conditions in the Region,

5. in addition to the lack of resources and the bad
condition of the physical components there is
another important obstacle to the development of
manufacturing establishments. This obstacle is
the social conditions. The Region is mainly
rural and comparatively densely populated. Skilled
labor is scarce because people of this Region did
not have the chance, up to now, to improve their
skill situation. The Region's organizational
infrastructure and institutional settings are very
poor.

At the present time, the Region's most important
categories of industry are:

1. food industry, such as small bakeries,

61

2. manufacturing of non-metallic mineral products,
such as tiles and bricks,

3. the metal products industry, in the form of a
number of small workshops in the Region.

The construction industry in the Region is not
important. The cement consumption, as an example, is
estimated at only 5 percent of the total national consump-
tion. "It is clear that the activities of governmental
agencies are of vital importance to this industry, as they
make up 50—60 percent of all activities in this sector."1
During the period of 1972-73, the main project was road
construction, the completion of which will take several
years. Other construction projects were undertaken in
1972-73, those of reshaping the town of Abha and the
extension of Jizan and Najran airports. The construction
industry is estimated to employ 14,000 persons. The
employees of the manufacturing and construction industries
include a high percentage of imported labor. It is esti-
mated that over 40 percent of the labor in this sector

are foreigners.

 

1The International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, World Bank Operations, p. 22.

 

62

Private Services

 

Transport

 

Land Transport

Land transport dominates the transportation
activities in the Region. Animals, such as camels and
donkeys, play a minor role in the transporting of goods
today. Usually 12 ton trucks are used for long distance
haulage, especially from the supply centers, such as
Jedda, in the West, and Riyadh, in the East of the
Region, and around the consumption centers within the
Region, such as Abha, Khamis-Mushayt, Al Baha, Baljurshi,
Jizan and Najran. About 100 trucks from Jedda and 80 from
Riyadh enter the Region everyday. Small trucks, such as
pick-ups, are used when the distance is short. Trans-
portation costs are high due to the poor road conditions

within the Region.

Sea Transport

Sea transport in and out of the Region is con-
sidered minor and less important. Jizan Port, even with
its inadequate loading and unloading facilities, including
shallow depth of draft, is the most significant port in
the Region when compared to the other two ports at
Alqunfudhah and Al Lith. The only time this port was busy
was during the Jizan Dam construction period. After the

completion of that dam, traffic figures show decline in

63

the number of ships and boats coming to this port. "Only
40-60 vessels per year of 200-500 dead weight tons unloaded

1

about 20,000 tons of cargo." There is no exports from

the Port of Jizan.

Air Transport

There are four airports in the Region located at
Bisha, Abha, Najran and Jizan. There is a daily flight
between Abha and Jizan, on one hand, and Jedda and Riyadh
on the other. Jizan has an air connection with flights to
the South. The number of passengers is about 75,000 per
year, 30-40 percent of this number are regional passengers.
There is no air cargo of importance but the present air
service for passengers is considered sufficient and

reliable.

Postal and Telecommunications

 

The road situation also affects the quality of the
mail services within the Region. The mail may take up to
a few weeks to arrive. There are central post offices in
Abha, Najran, Jizan, Bisha and Albahah and other small
offices. Postal carriage is mainly managed by contractors
who serve 400-500 villages. There is a study underway by
the Ministry of Transport and Communication to find ways

to improve the postal services in the whole Kingdom. The

 

lCentral Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for the Southwest Region, p. 23.

 

64

Region has 22 high-frequency telegraph offices which they
can only serve one call at a time because of the specific
equipment used. There is no television station in the

Southwest Region at the present time, but construction of
the first color television in the whole Kingdom is under

way in Abha.

Trade

 

Small businessmen are handling the trade activities
in the Southwest Region, while the few bigger enterprises,
located mainly in Abha or Jizan, are mostly branches of
establishments located in Jedda. Marketable surpluses in
the Region are insignificant and almost entirely sold in
the Region. Only the dates from Bisha, the cattle before
and during the Hadj (pilgrimage) period and sometimes the
vegetables from Al Baha and Baljurshi are sold outside the
Region. There is also a transit trade with Yemen, through
Najran and Jizan, but still, in this case, the traders
from Jedda and Riyadh play a dominant role. The South-
west Region's own interregional trade is based mainly on
imports of food, construction material, if not directly
imported by the construction company, and other consumer

goods.

Banking

The Region's official banking is still a small-

scale business. The National Commercial Bank has branches

65

in Abha, Baljurshi, Jizan, Najran and the Riyadh Bank has

a branch in Khamis Mushayt.
A considerable part, if not the majority, of the
private transactions are entrusted to the money dealers
who are not officially registered and have branch
offices in almost every important town in the Southwest
Region and connections elsewhere in the Kingdom, and
they seem to function well in the community.

Since there is no data, the picture of the Regional Banking

System is bound to remain incomplete. The Saudi Arabian

Monetary Agency, or SAMA, which is considered as the

central bank of Saudi Arabia, has branches in Abha and Jizan

to deal with the official government transactions and

transfers.2 There is activity for the Agricultural Bank,

which deals with credit for farmers in the Region.

Electric Power

 

Abha, Najran, Jizan, AnNamar, Buljarshi, Al-Baha,
Zafir, and Sabya have non-franchised public utilities.
The town of Khamis Mushayt and Bisha have small privately
owned, generating plants. The newly established Electrical
Services Department, of the Ministry of Commerce and
Industries is undertaking a study of new electric utility

network systems for the Region.

 

lIbid., p. 24.

2Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Annual Report.

 

66

Public Services

 

Health

Generally speaking, the Southwest Region is still
far from a satisfactory health condition, especially in
the area West of the Hijaz Encarpment. Poor drinking
water, lack of hygiene, malnutrition and diseases are
common not only in the more isolated parts of the Region.
In the past six years the situation actually got worse in
the area South of Jizan Province as a result of the
droughts.

During the last decade the Ministry of Health has made
a great effort to improve health conditions in this
long neglected part of the Kingdom. But the Ministry,
with all its efforts, still has not been able to catch
up with the back log.

A comparison between the present services in the
Southwest Region and those in the whole Kingdom shows
that the Region, which has about 31 percent of the
total population, has less than 20 percent of the
medical services (in five hospitals and approximately
40 dispensaries). There are about 130 small health
points.

 

The problem is that not all of these hospitals, dispensaries,
and health points are functioning adequately. Inadequately
trained personnel and a lack of good equipment are the
bottlenecks in medical services at the present time. There
is, indeed, a real need for thousands of medical and tech-
nical personnel on the national level in general, but in

the Southwest Region especially. Most of the Saudi trained

 

lCentral Planning Organization, Socio-Economicl///'
Development Plan for the Southwest Region, p. 32.

 

 

67

medical and technical personnel prefer to work in urban
areas, especially around big cities where jobs are avail—
able. The reason for that is the fact that the present
fringe benefits and field allowances do not provide suf—
ficient compensation for the hardships the workers endure
in their jobs. Another important problem which contributes
to the poor health care Situation of the Region is the lack
of health education. Priority must go to health education
which confronts the health problem at its source. Unfor-
tunately, most of the efforts are directed towards curative
care and little or not enough attention has been given to
preventive care, "though the most prevalent diseases, such
as tuberculosis, malaria, and enteric disorders, require

preventive measures first of all."1

Education

 

As in most of the developing nations of the world,
the psychological value of education in Saudi Arabia, in
general, and in the Southwest Region in particular, is
tremendous. People of the Region consider education as
the key to a better future for the younger generation.. The
experience of the early out migrants and the young who had
the opportunity of getting an education and joining the
government institutions or companies like ARAMCO, was

enough to make them believe in the great value of education.

 

lIbid., p. 23.

68

In the Region itself, the government has recognized this
fact and, in the last 10-15 years, schooling facilities and
school attendance have been increased. But, in spite of
this effort, there is, however, in the Southwest Region
still a real need for more educational services. Avail-
able information shows that this Region, which houses about
31 percent of the Kingdom,

had only 20 percent of the boy's elementary schools,

12 percent of the intermediate schools, 5 percent of p

the secondary schools, and 12 percent of the teachertl

fiiéié‘inidii‘i‘éiéfitfi'thihééfitfiiiSE°R:SEEi‘T‘ft::/'
Table 19 compares the number of students (boys) in these
levels and the number of schools in the Region to the
Kingdom.

There are six religious training institutes in the

Region out of forty in the Kingdom. Figures indicate that
out of the approximately 177,000 schoolable boys-~age 6-12--
35 percent are attending schools. In 1972, the Region's
finest vocational school was Opened in Abha, becoming the
sixth school of that type in Saudi Arabia. Although this
Region is primarily agricultural, there are no agricultural
training centers in the Region and no other institute that
could organize courses for farmers. In terms of education
for girls, only 10,500 or 8 percent of all elementary

school-going girls in Saudi Arabia live in the Region.

Corresponding figures for intermediate and public secondary

 

11bid., p. 33.

69

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wumpcooom paw .mumwpwEumucH .wumucofimam um maoosom paw mucmpsuw mo umnfidz mo comHHmmsounl.mH manna

70

education are 600 or 5 percent and 30 or 4 percent. The
total number of teachers at girls schools in the Southwest
Region is 444, which is only 9 percent of the national
total.l Outmigration and scarcity of jobs in the Region
have their effects on the level of education. Very few
people have farming ambitions, therefore the majority of
the Southwest Region's school graduates migrate to find
suitable, non-farming jobs, mainly in the larger urban

areas or to continue their education.

Labor and Social Affairs

 

The many services provided by the agencies of the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs throughout the country
did not yet extend to the Southwest Region at the level
which it is supposed to be. There are some activities con-
cerning the labor field. The Ministry has three labor
offices in the Region, located at Abha, Najran, and Jizan.
(There are 21 in the Kingdom.) These offices deal mainly
with employment matters and enforcement of the labor laws,
settlement of labor disputes and labor information. There
is one vocational training center in the Region. In terms
of social affairs services, the institutional care for
juveniles, aged and disabled are not found in this Region
in a significant scale. There is an orphanage in Abha

which is the only one of this kind of institution. As

 

1Ibid., p. 33.

71

regards community development activities, there are two1
centers in Khamis Mushayt and Jizan. Both centers are
urban minded although they are active in the surrounding
rural areas where their activities involve giving advice
and assistance in a wide range of social matters, including
cooperatives. Two types of social services in the Region

deserve specific attention.

Social Security

From the beginning of its activities, social
security became very known. (It was appreciated as a wel-
come supplement on the part of the government, to the cus-
tomary duties towards the aged, disabled and the needy in
the family or the community.) Several problems result in
insufficient services of the social security agencies. As
an example, the distribution of its branches is below the
national average; the Region has only eight of the 32
offices in 1970, one in each of the seven major towns and
one additional office in Al-Mandaq, in the Albahah Province.
Another problem is the coverage of the scheme which leaves
much to be desired, this being caused by the topographical
nature of the area which prevents easy access for those
eligible, the personnel difficulties in number and ability
and the intricate administrative procedures and regulations.

Therefore, the program, despite its sound design and

 

1There are 17 in the Kingdom.

72

objective, tends to create dissatisfaction and frustration

in places where anticipated benefits fail to materialize.

COOperation

Up to 1972, there were nine registered multi- ~
purpose cooperative societies in the Region. Application
for registrations were submitted by several other would-be
cooperatives, initiated jointly by government officials
and leading merchants. The main activities of these
cooperative societies are concentrated on electricity for
street lighting and domestic use, also for irrigation, as
the old, oil-driven pumps are gradually replaced by elec-
trical, a modest social welfare program and distribution
of agricultural equipment at reduced prices, with the help
of the Ministry of Agriculture. In general, despite the
success of some of these societies, there are other
problems because the coOperative development in the Region--
as in the rest of the country--is facing the lack of most
of the conditions essential to sustained success. As an
example, the lack of devoted leadership, organizational
know-how, membership participation, and, above all, sound

communication between the board and the share-holders.

Municipalities

 

It is still not quite clear how a municipality in
Saudi Arabia is defined or what conditions a town should

fulfill to qualify as a municipality. It is, however,

73

generally agreed that the role which the municipalities play
in the network of services in the country, and particularly
in the predominantly rural region of which they are focused,
will become increasingly important. Therefore, the Ministry
of the Interior has appointed regional planning consultants
for the Western Region and is about to do the same for the
Southwest Region. These consultants are asked to design a
regional plan and to advise on the physical planning of
urban centers, i.e., interplaying with the rural counter-
parts. In the Southwest Region there are about nine
municipalities, Abha, Khamis Mushayt, Najran, Bisha, Al-
Bahah, Baljurshi, Jizan, Alqunfudhah and Al-Lith. Apart
from meeting the normal requirements for fenced cemeteries,
asphalted streets, public lighting, drainage, and sewerage
facilities, these towns face specific problems as outlined

hereafter.

Abha

 

Rapid modernization is the most striking feature
requiring due attention and guidance. Scarcity of water
is likely to be the most serious constraint on expansion

of this main growth pole of the Region.

Najran

The establishment of governmental centers at Al

Faisaliya has alleviated the space shortage of the present

(I

74

capital, Najran Suq, but already causes some divergence in

services.

Despite the re-routing of the Taif—Abha road, the
town shows considerable vitality. The problem is that
spatial growth of Rawshan, the capital of the province,
is jeopardized by the planned re-location/extension of the

airport.

A1 Baha

The topographical setting of this mountain town
makes high demands upon urban planners. The present
municipal layout needs some adjustment. The presence and
traditional importance of the former capitals, Baljurshi
and Zafer, tend to divert attention from Al Baha, and to

curtail its functions as the leading administrative center.

Baljurshi

 

A former provincial capital with an outspoken urban
character. Preservation of this important market town
without derogation from A1 Baha seems to be the delicate

problem the government is facing.

Jizan
In view of the unfavorable soil conditions of this

Red Sea port, construction activity has virtually come to a

halt.

75

Alqunfudhah and Al Lith

 

The importance of these coastal towns is mainly
geared to their function as administrative and transit
trade centers for the agricultural hinterland.

Due to the airport and the military encampment,v
Khamis Mushayt has completely outgrown its initial pro-
portions of a moderate country town. The intention being
to give to this second largest center of Asir Province a
municipality status and to have it supported.1

These towns are the major centers of the public
services in the Region and thus form the backbone of the
institutional framework. At a lower (district) level the
distribution of the service points is not always commen-
surate with the population density. Moreover, services
are, by and large, insufficiently concentrated and, there-
fore, as a packing service network could well serve as a

workable basis for future institutional development.

 

Administrative Structure
The Southwest Region has no administrative status
yet. Analysis of its present administrative framework and
of its component units provides four main features which
are of vital importance to its future development. These

are as follows.

 

1Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for the Southwest Region, p. 37.

 

 

76

Diversity in Administrative
Division

 

 

The tOpographical boundaries of the parts of the
Southwest Region, distinguished by the different major
technical ministries, do not coincide. The field offices
of the various ministries, more often located in the pro-
vincial and district capitals than outside, cover different
areas. (Official government documentation and publications
references to geographical areas are not consistent.
Integrated and comprehensive action programs, however,
require joint development administration, coordination on
various levels and, consequently, a uniform administrative
division.) The prevailing heterogeneity of functional
units does not only lead to dissipation of funds, but also
complicates an accurate inventory of the requirements and
resources that are prerequisites to adequate multi-
sectoral planning.1

Lack of an Administrative
Structure at Regional Level

 

 

The above situation shows how important it is to
realize the need for a regional structure to facilitate
preparation and implementation of regional plans. There
is a need for administrative framework to intermediate

between the provincial and national levels.

 

1Ibid., p. 38.

77

High Degree of Centralizations

Decision making is centralized at the national
level, so little is developed on provincial and local
levels of administration. This situation which has
historically evolved is unlikely to promote the
development of a responsible and motivated civil
service. The centralized government system and the
low economic incentive may result in little motivation
on the part of public servants which is sometimes
reflected in poor services and low productivity.

Shortage of Qualified Personnel
It is well known that there is a pressing need for

education and training of the personnel to make them able
to live the rapid change which requires timely readaptation
of the administration.

The tasks of the modern—style administrator make high

demands upon the quality of the incumbent. It is

realized that gradual rejuvenation and training of

the civil services are possible answers to the problem.

In this connection emphasis will be put on aptitude

and qualifications, which in turn require more refined
recruitment and selection techniques.

Social Structure and Organization

 

After the creation-establishment-foundation of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by King Abdul Aziz Al Saud, tribal
structure--in the whole country--in general and in the
Southwest Region in particular, has lost a great deal of
its power and significance. All aspects of life in the

Region have been influenced by the national government.

 

Ibid.

Ibid.

78

Law and order was established in areas which before
were the scene of tribal feuds and war. Freedom of
movement was guaranteed, fear of life and property
made way for security. Health care, education and
other government services brought new outlooks and new
attitudes and accelerated the emergence of a more
modern society with unprecedented possibilities and
expectations.

Although tribal structure has lost its power and signifi-
cance from the sociological point of view, identification
with and the feeling of belonging to a tribal group are
still an important factor.
Local organization is largely characterized by kinship.
Land, both privately owned or communal, is regarded as
the unalienable asset of the rightful kin group and
indirectly of the tribe. It is a cohesive factor, but
at the same time a certain constraint on development
towards more territory-conscious groups. There is,
however, a growing tendency that the traditional and
still predominant one—tribe village will be substituted
by a multi-tribal village of which the inhabitants
identify themselves with the village more as a terri-
torial than as a kinship unit.
The once undisputed authority of the paramount Sheikh-
Gabila (tribal chief) deceased during the last two decades.
Yet, tribal leadership as an institution has retained many
of its social functions. The sheikh of the sub-tribe, or
the lineage, has largely remained the traditional cultural
leader of the king group, respected for his personal qual-
ities or noble descent. In this capacity he is also

recognized, to some extent, by the government. He can be

held responsible for the behavior of his subjects, represent

 

lIbid., p. 39.

21bid.

D;

79

his group at government, and in other respects be an

extension of the government. Thus, tribal representatives,

especially village heads, are often in a rather ambiguous
position. Sometimes they tend to be very conservative

in outlook and reluctant to change especially the older

representatives, but on the other hand, the younger and

educated village heads, are in an active position to promote
change and activate progress.

In the Southwest Region the extended family, based
on kinship and locality, is still the most important

social group. But in the areas which are relatively open

to influences from the outside world-~especially these

which are affected by the outmigration--this extended
family structure show signs of decline. Yet, the pre-
vailing inheritance laws are here the major constraint on
physical split-up of the large family into smaller entities

(nuclear families), each living on their inherited land.

As regards the views of the people, two may be singled out.
First, outmigration (mainly urbanization) which is
considerable in several provinces (up to 60-70 percent
in age group, 15-25, i.e., some 40 percent of the
total working population) is often considered with
some ambivalence.

The exodus of young men no doubt is a serious drain of

farm manpower, but parents often admit that they have also

benefited from the migration of their sons to the urban

areas and the center of the activities in the Kingdom,

 

11bid.

80

where better jobs and higher wages have contributed to the
family income better than the work on the farm. This
created a shortage of labor at the farm level, but it was
replaced by Yemenite land labor or sharecroppers. Secondly,
the government services and welfare extension are appreci-

ated as well as taken for granted. The latter attitude,

 

which was frequently observed in this Region and other
parts of the country, may be mainly due to "certain

paternalistic" elements in the government approach and to

 

the lack of popular participation in development. Neither

 

is conducive to a more positive attitude towards social
change and economic progress. Where community initiative
is shown, as it is in a handful of cooperative societies,
sustained success can hardly be expected as long as the
government machinery, both in approach and adequate gui-

dance, is not geared to such self-initiated community

 

efforts.

The c00perative societies are (unfortunately
exceptional) examples of so-called, purpose-oriented,
ventures of people, i.e., with a common, socio-economic
goal in mind. The smaller societies, with a limited number
of member/shareholders (usually from the same village) and
a modest range of activities, are not unsuccessful as the
board enjoys confidence and its performance is under daily
scrutiny of the members. Where the cooperative has a

multi-village character and the sc0pe is wider-—like in the

81

An Namas, Asir, Cooperative society--the initially success-
ful start may soon be followed by a setback, with survival
of the whole or part of the enterprise at stake. Namely
whenever a less inspired person takes over as president,
when benefits are held off, or when branches become a
burden on the parent cooperative, ignorance, selfishness
and mistrust get the upper hand, and without proper outside
interference, the cooperative may soon cease to exist.

This indicates that the target-oriented groups are still

weak compared with consanguineous and territorial groups.

Summary

In summarizing the socio-economic structure of the
Region, it can be noted that the principal natural resources
available there are land and water and the major activity
is agriculture. Mineral resources, including oil and gas,
are insignificant. The manufacturing sector is very small.
Agriculture itself cannot supply sufficient food for the
population of the Region and about one—third of the food-
grain requirements are imported. Sometimes one-half is
imported, especially in bad harvest years. Water is a
serious problem in the Region and the development of water
resources needs much technical input, which makes it
expensive. Therefore, water potential has, so far, been
developed only partly and agriculture generally shows a
low productivity. There are reasons that cause the low

agricultural, and other sectors, productivity of the

82

Region, rugged topography and the scattered population
probably being the most important. Road construction is
also relatively expensive, consequently large numbers of
people live isolated from each other and from the rest of
the more prosperous parts of the Kingdom. Incomes gained
in agriculture (including livestock, fisheries, and
forestry) are low;
for the Southwest Region in total approximate SR 150
million per year, equivalent to SR 110 (rounded) per
caput. It is, therefore, necessary for the farmers
to have off-farm sources of income. Outside agricul-
ture the average earnings are much higher; in the
Southwest Region approximately SR 4,000—5,000 per
average migrant worker (SR BOO-1,000 per caput),
while outside the Regionlthe average earnings are at
least 25 percent higher.
These income differentials are the principal
causes of the large-scale migration from agriculture.
According to a rough estimate about 110,000 workers have
left agriculture in the Southwest Region. Roughly 40,000
of them have found employment in the Region, the others,
70,000, work outside the Southwest Region, mainly in the
central urban belt--Jedda, Mecca, Riyadh, and Dahran.2
These workers transfer sizeable amounts of money to their
families. There is no data to show how much they transfer,

but the Central Planning Organization, with ILACO, make a

rough estimate of SR 300-350 million each year, each

 

lIbid., p. 41.

2Immigrants from non-agricultural sectors are
assumed to amount to 10,000 workers according to ILACO's
estimation.

83

category of migrant workers contributing about half of the
above amount.
Total disposable incomes in the agricultural sector,
therefore, amount to SR 450 million or SR 325 per
caput, per year on the basis of official population
figures. As the estimates of the regional product are
not based on reliable statistics, only rough approxi-
mations are possible. Agricultural census data,
population statistics, official employment estimates,
industrial investigations, etc. are outdated (relying
on extrapolations) or incomplete, or both.
However, the overall national data about the sectoral
composition of GDP, adjusted by ILACO to regional con-
ditions, where possible, form the basis for Table 20. In
conclusion, the disposable incomes, per caput, in the
Kingdom are about two to three times as high as in the
Region.

It has also been noticed that the social, health
and educational situations of the Region's population are
not enough, or sufficient at least, to be equal to the
situations of the other regions of the country. Farmers
are not yet ready for modern agricultural techniques,
their ability is very limited which leads to the lack of
popular participation in the development programs. An
integrated effort is required in order to prepare the
Region's population for the development program plans, by

the government, through its several agencies. The atti-

tude of the people must change and they must feel the need

 

1Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
vaelopment Plan for the Southwest Region, p. 41.

 

 

84

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85

for change themselves, first, and that requires changing

the government's approach.

CHAPTER IV

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR THE

SOUTHWEST REGION

Development Objectives and Strategy

 

First of all, the Regional Development Plan should
fit in with the National Development Plan. Objectives
and strategy of the National Plan are as follows:
a. Objectives:
1. Maintaining the religious and moral values;
2. Raising the standards of living and welfare
of the people;
3. Providing national security;
4. Maintaining economic and social stability.1
b. The specific objectives are:
1. Increase of the rate of growth of gross
domestic product; .
2. Development of human resources in order to

enable the several elements of society to

contribute more effectively to production and

 

1Central Planning Organization, Development Plan
(Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1970), p. 23.

 

86

87

full participation in the process of develop-
ment;

3. Diversification of the sources of income by
reducing dependence on oil and compensating
for it by increasing the share of other pro-
dictive sectors in gross domestic product.

These objectives are to be achieved by adopting

a strategy aiming at:

1. An increase of the earning capacity of the popu-
lation by an economic exploitation of the Kingdom's
natural resources. The government will assist in
creating an economic environment to which private
entrepreneurship will respond with participation
in production.

2. Improvement of the physical, social and adminis-
trative infrastructure in order to support the
development referred to under number 1 and to
insure that all strata of society has access to
education, medical and welfare services to more
or less the same degree.

3. Providing minimum family incomes by a system of
welfare payments for those who cannot participate
in production owing to circumstances beyond their
control.

4. Freedom of migration for workers who want and can
contribute effectively to the socio-efonomic
development elsewhere in the country.

This summarizes the National Framework for Develop-
ment and its objectives and strategies for the whole King-
dom. In terms of the Regional Framework, it appears from
the previous section that the key objective is to raise
the standard of living of the people in the country and

that also applies to the Southwest Region. So, the

 

1Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic

Development Plan for the Southwest Region, p. 82.

 

 

88

Regional development strategy, derived from the National

strategy, but more specifically geared to the needs and

jpotentials of the Southwest Region, can be formulated as

follows:

1.

In order to increase the earning capacity, efforts
must be concentrated on the sector with the most
natural resources, which is agriculture. It is
clear that agriculture is bound to act as the
carrier of development for other sectors in the
near future since there is a scarcity of other
natural resources in the Region.
With regard to agriculture, the government
should see to it that the infrastructure, the
technical and the capital inputs, for which
the people themselves lack the means, are pro-
vided in appropriate timing sequences. In
spite of the governmental support the agri-
cultural developmental projects should be
macro-economically justified. The economic
benefits should insure an adequate remuneration
of the farmer's labor and capital inputs.
In principle, the same strategy applies in the
case of manufacturing and construction. One of
the consequences is that diversion of secondary
sector activities from regions which are rela—
tively better circumstanced (more energy sources

and raw materials, neighboring markets, agglomera-

tion with other industries, etc.) for the sake of

1Ibid., p. 83.

89

employment creation in the Southwest Region only

is considered uneconomic and, therefore, undesirable.

Improvement of the physical, social and adminis—

trative infrastructure in the Southwest Region

means :

a.

1

Considerable extension and improvement of

the road network. "Without a greatly improved
accessibility the people in the Southwest
Region cannot be provided with a reasonable
share in the social services."1 Intangible
benefits (e.g., for national unity and purely
social reasons) weigh heavily in deciding
whether construction of roads is justified.

The same applies to postal services, telegraph,
telephone, T.V. and public utilities, such as
electric power, domestic water and general
urban development.

Development of the administrative infrastructure
should be geared to the actual socio-economic
and political requirements of the Region.
Educational institutions, medical facilities
and network of social service centers should
be established--despite of the trend of the
earning capacity of the Region, because this

is to be considered as a social right of the

Ibid., p. 83.

 

90

people and also because people can be fully
productive only when enough of such services
are available. "National criteria for the
provision of these services will serve as
guidelines in expanding the social infra-
structure."1
Welfare payments should be made available to those
persons who cannot participate in the development
process owing to circumstances beyond their con-
trol, such as the disabled, the blind, and the
aged. Such payments should be made to those who
are likely to have lower incomes than the national
minimum accepted as a result of unexpected natural
disaster, such as floods, droughts, and crop
failure. Apy7//////
The government does not see the need of restric-
tions on the present and future stream of immi-
grant labor from the Southwest Region to other
parts of the Kingdom under the following con-
ditions:
a. "That the immigrants should be able to con-
tribute to the economic development of these
other parts" and

b. "That the outflow does not affect the develop-

ment of the Southwest Region."2

 

l 2

Ibid. Ibid., p. 84.

91

This implies that immigration should be based
upon economic grounds and not on the consideration that
the level of social services in the Southwest Region is

lower.

Immigrants who cannot find adequate remunerative
employment in the Region will be either prepared for
jobs outside the Southwest Region or, if they appear
unfit for education and training, they will be
allowed to rely on social welfare.
Other conditions concern the sufficient employment
opportunities outside the Region and that measures are
taken to accomodate these people and their families.
(Considering that the major part of the outmigrants will
be young males, job opportunities are not likely to be a
very serious constraint.)

This strategy is an economic exploitation of
natural resources, although the official strategy gives
much more attention to the development of the social
infrastructure, health, education, and welfare as it is
implied in the National Development Plan of 1970. The
regional per capita incomes will include more transferred
incomes than in the case of economic exploitation of
resources only. ILACO has an alternative strategy which
Said:

In order to create employment and to support income
growth in the Southwest Region it was proposed to

develop a program of diverting to the Region secondary-
sector activities from the Central Belt--Jedda,

Ibid.

92

Riyadh, Dammon areas, with comparative advantages for
industrialization, vis-a-vis the Southwest Region.
Price-supporting measures for agricultural commodities
would serve the same purpose.
Such strategy aims toward accomodating more people in the
.Region. It would require substantial, long-term government
support and subsidies to the private sector, besides price
support in agriculture would effect the cost of living of
“the non-agricultural population. (Both implications are
Inot acceptable to the government.)

The Development Programs for the Southwest
Region 1973-1980

 

In this part a summary of the Development Program
fkor the Southwest Region, as it was proposed and suggested
tn: the government of Saudi Arabia, will be presented.
Innese programs are aimed at an identification of possible
and necessary projects and actions. Therefore, these
sectoral programs are not a set of feasibility studies.
Vtith.a margin of accuracy entirely depending on the volume
arui quality of the available and additionally collected
information, the technical feasibility and the economic
anti/or social justification of the proposed projects and
aCtions are explained. Before a project can be imple-
metrlted a specific feasibility study is required in nearly
311- cases. This study should specify the local conditions

5““3 circumstances of each project. These conditions, which

 

 

lIbid., p. 84.

93

can vary considerably from location to location for the
same type of project cannot be studied as part of a

regional planning study, which, moreover, had to be exe-

cuted in a very short period. The following pages describe

the development program for each sector.

Agriculture
In the Southwest Region the agricultural develop-

ments goal is to increase the standard of living of the

farming population through an economic exploitation of

the available land and water resources. Subsidy of farmers'

incomes is acceptable as long as it does not endanger the
(economic exploitation of resources, nor appreciably raise
1:he cost of living of the non-agricultural population.

The plan suggested that emphasis must be focused on irri—
gyated crop production and settled stock raising "as EEEEE

are the only agricultural activities which would enable

1:13e farmers to improve their standard of living." Rainfed

<=Joopping and nomadic stock raising certainly does not have

E3IJch potentials. Therefore, since the irrigation water,

II‘v‘ather than agricultural land, is the Region's scarcest
E>Jroduction factor, the development of water resources
£3I'lould be at the top of the development priorities list.

trlle plan has suggested several steps to be taken in the

 

lIbid., p. 85.

94

program for the development of land and water resources as
follows.
Collecting of Hydrological and
Geohydrological Data
The present rainfall and runoff data are not suf-
ficient for the planning and implementation of projects
.for water resources development. Therefore, it is very
:tmportant that the program for recording must continue and
«expand at a rather large number of stations.
Also it is essential that geohydrological research,
including test drilling, is carried out by the
Geology and Drilling Division to assess the potentials
for tube-well irrigation in the Coastal Plain and
Foothills and to determine the optimum locations of
the wells.
Preparation of Topographic Maps
According to the current five year national devel-
<312ment plan, the preparation of topographic maps, scale
1350,000 on the basis of air-photos. In a program of the
-Z\€zrial Survey Department covering about 14,000 sq. km in
tiliea Southwest Region, topographic maps on the l:30,000
E3<2ale have been completed. By the end of 1975 the first
Inaps will become available. Concerning irrigability
classification of land,
Sogreah and Italconsult have made irrigability
studies of some selected areas, using the irrigability
classification as outlined in the U.S. Bureau of

Reclamation Manual Vol. V. It is recommended that
the Ministry of Agriculture should introduce a uniform

1Ibid., p. 87.

95

irrigability classification for the whole of Saudi
Arabia to enable comparison between the classes in

various areas.

Feasibility Studies Regarding
.Major Wadi Improvements in
the Coastal Plains

An optimum exploitation of the water resources
eavailable for flood spreading necessitates first improve-

Inent of the diversion works and intake structures, e.g.,

tflnrough gabion constructions, secondly construction of

Exroper main canals and laterals (dividing the land into
units of about 50 ha (100 acres)) to warrant a speedy
Clistribution of the irrigation water, and, thirdly, proper
lxand levelling. These studies will be applied to Wadi
Hali and it will include:

Evaluation of the available rainfall and runoff

a.

data.

b. Preparation of detailed topographic and soil maps.

c. Preliminary design of an improved irrigation
layout.

d. Investigation into possible sites for flood-

retention structure of dam.
e. Preliminary design of such a dam or structure.

These studies and recommendations are applied to

Wadis Baysh, Khums-Khulah, Liyyah and Ta'ashar.

lIbid., p. 88.

96

Implementation of Small-Scale
Projects Under a Rural Works
Program

It was suggested that a number of comparatively
small-scale projects can be implemented without extensive
studies. These projects include:

a. Improvements of flood spreading and flood diversion
in the Coastal Plain and Foothills.

b. Development of tube-well irrigation in the
Coastal Plain and Foothills.

c. The construction of small earth or rockfill dams
in the Wadis and grouting in the Dissected High-
lands and Upper and Middle Wadi areas.

d. A number of land conservation and flood protection
measures. A large part of the work involved can
be done by the farmers themselves, provided they

would receive adequate technical and financial

support.

The Wadi-Bisha Drainage Study

Severe salinity problems exist in the Middle Wadi-
Bisha oasis. Preliminary investigations have indicated
a rather limited occurrence of perched ground water
tables in these areas. Under such conditions drainage
would not function. The only remedy can be to root
up the hard pans to allow an undisturbed moisture flow
to a greater depth. For a proper solution, that
might differ for various parts of the area, a detailed
soil and drainage survey is urgently required. Such a
drainage study for the Wadi- isha oasis should be
carried out on short notice.

11bid., p. 95.

97

The Wadi-Najran Study

A feasibility study regarding water resources
development in the Wadi-Najran oasis is recommended and
it is supposed to be included in the budget of Ministry
of Agriculture and Water. Also it was recommended that
implementation should take place during the periods of
1973-74 and 1979-80.
The Wadi-Bisha Water
Development Study

A similar feasibility study as anticipated for the
‘Wadi-Bisha area should also be made for the Wadi-Bisha
area during the second five—year plan.
Research, Experiments,
JDemonstrations

It is natural that a program for agricultural
(development anticipated for any area in general and for the
£30uthwest Region of Saudi Arabia in particular, can only
loe implemented successfully when at the same time adequate
supporting services are rendered, especially in the field
(of agricultural research, experiments and demonstrations,
education and training, extension, credit supply, etc.
‘Within this understanding the development program
includes:

a. The establishment of a central agricultural
research station because there is just one station

under construction at this time, in Hakmah, and it

98

will not be capable of accomplishing the research
tasks for the whole Region. Thus, to assure suf-
ficient research and experimental capability for
the planned agricultural development, especially
because the various physiographic zones markedly
differ in soil and climatic conditions, it was
recommended that another station must be built.
Both stations are to be engaged in an integrated
research program regarding fruit and vegetable
growing, as those are the crops which dominate in
the anticipated cropping patterns. Special
attention should be given to research on the grow—
ing seasons of the various species and varieties
to insure regular supply of fruits and vegetables
over the year, preventing sharp price fluctuations.
Spacing, fertilizers, spraying and cultivation
trials should also be included in this program. It
was suggested that the Hakmah station should
further focus its research activities on crop
production problems with regard to the Coastal
Plain and Foothills. Most emphasis is to be
devoted to such food and fodder crops as sorghum
and sesame and on new crops such as cotton,
groundnuts, sugar cane, and stylosanthes. Special
problems are certain aspects of irrigation and

drainage, in particular the effects of under

99

irrigation on crop production are to be studied.
The proposed central research station is to be
established near Khamis Mashayt. It should be
engaged primarily in research on the problems of
crop production in the Dissected Highlands and
Upper and Middle Wadi-areas, especially regarding
wheat and alfalfa, and on salinity, soil fertility
and crop rotations. The central station should
have an experimental farm of about 80 ha (200
acres) mainly for research on fruits, vegetables,
cereals and fodder crops. Also, two other smaller
substations were suggested to be established in
Bisha and Najran, each with an experimental farm
of some 10 ha (24 acres), for experiments with
crops under the specific climatic and soil con-
ditions of the Middle Wadi areas.

Trickle irrigation demonstration plots: it was
recommended to start small scale trials with
trickle irrigation on short notice in Abha and
Najran and at the Hakmah research station. This
type of irrigation is considered as a very
efficient irrigation system, because it minimizes
water lanes and makes it possible to use also
water of mediocre quality. Moreover, it facili-
tates application of fertilizers and herbicides

and requires practically no land levelling. The

100

only disadvantage of this system is its high
installation costs (SR 2,000-6,000 per ha).
Therefore, trickle irrigation is only suitable

for high-value crops, such as fruits and vegetable.
Pilot schemes for groundwater development in the
Coastal Plain: For the development of tube—well
irrigation in the Coastal Plain--it is important
that a number of pilot projects, such as demon-
strating the proper use of groundwater, be imple-
mented. It is recommended to start with three
schemes, 25-50 ha each (60-125 acres), during the
years 1974-75. By the end of 1976—77 the number
of schemes are to be expanded to five with average
size around 100 ha.

Fruit tree multiplication farms: central agricul-
tural research stations should be charged with the
supervision of a number of fruit tree multiplica-
tion farms to provide for the supply of young
trees necessary for the planned extension of the
area under fruit trees, in the Dissected Highlands
and the Upper and Middle Wadi areas. It is pro-
posed that the existing multiplication farms in
Abha, AnNamas, Baljurshi and A1 Mandag be expanded
to supply young fruit trees for the area around
3,000 ha (7,000 acres) to be planted in the

Dissected Highlands, and to set up new farms in

101

Khamis Mushayt and Najran. The latter multiplica-
tion farms would serve an area of 2,000 ha (4,800
acres) during the next 7-10 years in the Upper

and Middle Wadi areas and possibly in the Foothills,
around 5,000 ha (12,000 acres) seems a realistic
target area to be planted in the period considered
in view of the availability of qualified staff for
the essential guidance during and after estab-
lishing the orchards. Toward the end of the decade
each of the six stations is expected to produce
enough seedlings for 100-150 ha (240-360 acres)
annually. In the initial phase this quantity
might only be enough for 25 ha, since both the
multiplication staff and the farmers will have to
gain experience. Each of the six farms should be

8 ha (20 acres) large.

.Agricultural Extension

Because of the limited number of qualified extension
<3fficers among the total staff of the extension service
(only 50 out of 800) and because of the limited mobility
of these officers, the impact of extension on the Region's
agricultural productivity--in genera1--is still slight.
(It is assumed that one fully qualified officer will be
needed per 400 farmers in the Region.) This implies that
ultimately around 350 qualified officers are required.

The total recurrent cost (includes the salaries of the

102

additional staff and the overhead costs) of such an
extension apparatus would amount to SR 8-9 million, or to
2-3 percent of the total annual net value added of the
agricultural sector. These figures are reasonable by
international standards. It is well known that an adequate
extension service is a prerequisite for a successful
agricultural development. Therefore in the next 7-10

years the extension service has to be expanded and improved.
By the end of 1979-80, around 250 qualified officers will
have to be engaged in the extension service in the Region.
.A large number of these 250 is to come from outside the
Region, either from other Arab countries, since the effect
10f the training centers and other educational facilities
jplanned for the Region will not be clearly felt until the
«end of the second five-year plan (1980). Moreover, the
(extension officers must be provided with appropriate means
(of transport (costs are included in the previous estima-
‘tion). Even the expansion of the number of qualified
(afficers from 50-250 and greater mobility might not suf-
fice to serve the farmers in such remote and relatively
inaccessible areas as the Northern Foothills. It is
therefore recommended to establish an agricultural office
in the Northern part of the Foothills, where ultimately,
around 10 percent of the Region's agricultural population
is expected to live. Mkhurah, Turayhan or Muhayl is

eligible for such an office--by the end of l979--so this

103

office should be staffed with some 20 qualified extension
officers.

The Supply of Agricultural
Credit

As was mentioned in Chapter III, the Agricultural
Bank still plays only a minor role in credit supply in
the Region, because its program is practically unknown to
most of the farmers. This is largely due to the limited
number of officers (see Table ) and the relative inacces-
sibility of the area, and secondly because of the time
consuming procedures and stern repayment schedules. In
the next seven years, the demand for agricultural credit
in the Region is likely to expand rapidly, especially in
the Coastal Plain, where, according to the program for the
develOpment of tube-well irrigation, around 38 tube-wells
Ihave to be installed in that period.

This program alone requires a total investment of

SR 21.0 million (excluding land levelling) which is
almost certainly to be financed from medium term bank
loans. To meet this demand for medium term credit, a
total revolving fund will be required by the end of
1979-1980 of around SR 11.0-12.0 million, if it is
assumed that the loans are to be repaid in five yearly
installments, and that the first repayment will be

due after two years. This amount should be increased
by another SR l.0-2.0 million beciuse of the revolving
fund needed for short-term loans.

115 account is taken of the fact that the demand for credit
iri the other areas of the Region might grow less rapidly,

ii revolving fund of SR 15.0— 20.0 million must be

x

lIbid., p. 99.

104

available by the end of the second five-year plan period

to meet the demand for credit in the Region's agricultural

sector .

It goes without saying that the Bank cannot possibly
satisfy this demand unless more progressive lending
policies are enforced. It is recommended: (1) to use
vans to bring the bank to the farmers, (2) to adopt
smoother credit procedures, viz., liberalization of
the collateral requirements and granting emergency
lending authority to lending officers for short-term
crop loans and replacement of irrigation equipment,

(3) to adjust the repayment periods better to the
economic life of the assets.

As the Coastal Plain is the area where the demand for

credit is expected to increase most, it is recommended

to extend the staff of the Jizan and Al Qunfudhah sub-

branches and to transfer at least one mobile unit from

(each of these sub-branches.

lflarketing of Agricultural
Products

The agricultural development is expected to have

giained sufficient momentum to produce substantial market-

able surplus after the 19803. By that time, according to

'tlle development program, the marketing of agricultural
Products will definitely have become a vital issue.
{PIMerefore, it is suggested that a comprehensive study of
'a]_1 aspects of such marketing in the Southwest Region
StMould be undertaken during the last two years of the

seczond five-year plan period. For the time being, it is

Ibid.

105

sufficient to improve and extend price information, e.g.,
through daily broadcasting of the market prices of fruits

and vegetables quoted in various areas.

Plant Protection

Until 1972 almost only the spraying teams of the
agricultural field service took care of plant protection.
Their jobs were not sufficient because they could not
guarantee timely assistance and because they limited their
services to mostly large farmers in the immediate sur-
roundings of the station. Therefore, the program sug-
gested that, in the future, the agricultural field service,
should leave all spraying activities to the farmers them-
selves or to private companies. A continuation, temporarily
however, might be useful, provided these services would be
limited to the farmers that are not yet familiar with
Inodern crop production, to those who are unable to buy
aspraying equipment themselves, or to those living in
Inather remote areas. In this respect, particularly the

<3c>astal Plain and Foothills deserve due attention. It is,
'tllerefore, recommended to direct the activities of the
£3E>raying teams of the Jizan agricultural unit and to
sitation new teams at the unit in A1 Qunfudhah and the

Office proposed for Muhwah, Turaljhan or Muhayl.

106

The Land and Water Development
Organization

It has been mentioned that the construction of
small diversion and intake structures, flood protection
walls and small earth or rockfill dams can be carried out
by the farmers themselves, provided they would receive
adequate technical support. This technical support,
including feasibility studies, design and supervision, can
only be provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Water,
either directly, or indirectly through consultants. To
this end a land and water use development organization
should be established within the Ministry, preferably
within the projects execution directorate. This organi-
zation should further have a number of field teams, each
consisting of an irrigation engineer, two assistant
engineers and a surveyor. The organization could under-
‘take the planning of a new irrigation layout for farms in
the Coastal Plain and Foothills, diverted from surface
jerigation or rainfed cropping to well irrigation; super-

‘Vfiision and advice on water management; the study of
<ilrainage problems and construction and maintenance of
tiarraces. The first two field teams should become avail-
iikble during the last two years of the current five-year
Filan and the third during the next period. They are to be
£3tationed at the agricultural directorate in Abha and at

‘the units in Baha and Al Qunfudhah, respectively.

107

Regulation of Water Use or
Water Code

To prevent waste of scarce water and any discord,
water use should be regulated by law. Such a law should
regard the free use of water as it is available to any
inhabitant of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the present
users cannot be deprived from their rights. However,
regulations can be made so as to control water use. Some
years ago a proposal was drafted at the Ministry of Agri-
culture and Water for the regulation of water use by law.
It is strongly recommended that this proposal be approved

and that appropriate measures enacted as soon as possible.

.Agricultural Subsidies
The development program--as it was mentioned
Ibefore--suggested that subsidies on capital investments
iare almost the only subsidies that could contribute
zappreciably to the growth of farmer's incomes. The
:EOllowing activities are eligible for such subsidies:
a. Drilling of wells, proposed subsidy percentage is
50 percent. Such a subsidy would not only lower
the repayment commitments of the farmers, but also
offer the opportunity of keeping a firm grip on
the implementation of tube-well development.
b. Land levelling, necessary for well irrigation,
either or not supplemental to improved flood

spreading, percentage, again 50.

108

c. Young fruit trees. The production costs of such
young trees are estimated at SR 5 per specimen.
It is proposed to sell these trees to the farmers
at SR 1.1 The payments to the farmers under the
rural works program, such as those for the con-
struction of better intake and diversion structures
small earth and rockfill dams and flood-protection
walls, are also subsidies. The impact of these
subsidies, in terms of governmental budget

expenditure, is indicated in Table 21.

Animal Production

It is anticipated that a steady decline of nomadic
stock raising and a growing tendency towards intensifi—
cation in settled stock raising will take place. That is
because animal husbandry will become more and more dependent
(on irrigated crop production for its fodder supply. There-
:fore, the development of irrigated crop production will
Ilargely determine the rate of growth of animal production
<3uring the next seven years. No large scale program has
kaeen proposed yet with regard to livestock keeping because
Cievelopment of animal production is generally a slow
EDrocess, requiring improvement of all facets of husbandry,
(Dr, in short, improvement of feeding, sanitation and
Unanagement. However, the development program has proposed

lIbid., p. 101.

109

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110

an outline for supporting services such as veterinary
care. Adequate control of animal diseases is the pre-
requisite to the improvement of animal production. This
especially applies in the case of nomadic and semi-
nomadic stock raising in the Region.
It is generally accepted that in comparatively
extensive animal production, one veterinarian is
required per 20,000 livestock units. For efficient
service each veterinarian should have five qualified
assistants and proper means of transport, equipment,
drugs, vaccines, etc. As the ultimate feed production
of the Region will suffice for a livestock population
of around 1,200,000 livestock units, in all 60 veter-
inarians are expected to be required. This number
should be available by the end of 1979-80 to enable
optimum development during the subsequent period. To
insure streamlined disease control it is further
strongly recommended to opefate mobile diagnostic
laboratories in the Region.
Because of the severe shortage of Saudi technicians, those
‘veterinarians will have to be recruited from abroad. The
«education and training of qualified veterinary assistants
:should be provided by the central laboratory in Riyadh.
(Zoncerning extension service for animal production, it
Vvas suggested that this extension had better be entrusted
1:o the general agricultural extension service. Concerning
Jresearch in the field of animal feeding there is an excel-
ILent facility established in Hufaf (Eastern Region). Most
C>f the results obtained are applicable to the Southwest

liegion. Any necessary specific research could be carried

lIbid., p. 102.

111

out jointly with Hakmah research station and the central

station proposed for Khamis Mushayt.

Marine Fisheries

 

In cooperation with the University of North Wales,
in the United Kingdom, a marine research station was
established in Jedda. The station is carrying on research
into the potentials of exploiting marine biological
resources in the Red Sea. This research program gives
special attention to:

--a survey to identify the concentration of fisher-
men, vessels, landing volumes, prices and ice-
making facilities along the Red Sea coast.

--exploratory fishing surveys to locate new stocks
and to identify the underexploited stocks of fish
using a variety of fishing methods and gear. In
this respect especially, the potentialities of

l The first

shrimp fishing are under study.
results of this study are expected to become
available within two years. Then--as the develop-

ment plan suggested--it will be possible to draft

a program for the development of marine fishing.

Forestry

At the present time, the Division of Forestry at

the Ministry of Agriculture and Water is carrying out a

‘1

11bid., p. 103.

112

five-year program. The aim of this program is to establish
some 20,000 dunums (5-6,000 acres) of plantations in the
barren mountainous sites and hilly plateau areas of the
southwest Region of the Kingdom. The cost has been esti-
mated at approximately SR 58 million. It is suggested
that this scheme should be extended with an afforestation
program for former rainfed, terraced crop land in the
Dissected Highlands. The population should be encouraged
to take part in such a project by planting seedlings and
by doing other forestry work. The owners of the terraced
lands might thus compliment their income from agriculture.
At the same time the authorities might use the employment
opportunities and the benefits to be derived from forestry
production as arguments to make legislation about the
admittance to the abandoned terraces for afforestation
Purposes palatable. On a sustained yield basis an
afforestation project of this magnitude, i.e., some 16,000
ha (about 40,000 acres) will provide a regular flow of
income to those who take part in its implementation. On
an aVerage, 800 ha (2,000 acres) should be planted annually
to attatin afforestation of the whole area in 20 years,
which is the assumed rotation period. The costs of
eSta‘blishment and silvicultural practices on a per hector

(2'5 acres) basis--as it was suggested in the program--is

as fol lows:

113

Seedling SR 750

Afforestation (Land preparation, 4,000
planting, thinning, etc.)

Irrigation during the first two
years after planting:

--Opportunity cost of water 800
--Tractor (1 per 2 ha) 4,000
--Tractor operation and maintenance 8,800
--Project management 300
TOTAL SR 18,6501

As for the natural forests of the Region, the program
recommended that these should be left to natural regene-
ration. Access roads should be built, as has already
been done in the Baha and Asir provinces, to make the
forests available to the population for recreation. The
forest authorities in the provinces could best determine
where these roads should be constructed. It was recom-
mended that enough budget must be approved for the purpose
0f experiments with various exotic and indigenous species
to be planted on the terraces. Also, the right of admit-

tance to the terraced land for afforestation should be

regulated by law.

Mlnlna
The government policy towards mining companies

plays an important part. The recent revision of the mining
——'—\

lIbid., p. 104.

114

code has made it more attractive for private companies to
undertake exploration drilling. It is the policy of the
government to withdraw from exploration activities after
the first investigations have yielded positive results, and
to hand over the more detailed explorations to private
companies. An evaluation of the mining potential can be
made only after more investigations have been carried out
by the Directorate General of Mineral Resources in Jedda.
There are several exploratory investigations undergoing in
the Southwest Region, where the primary results indicate
that there is marble, copper, silver, zinc, lead, gold,
iron, sulphur, and sulphuric acid in different provinces
in the Region.

The Industrial Development
Program

 

The strategy to develop manufacturing industries
must be based on an economic exploitation of the available
resources. In the Southwest Region the industrial develop-
ment has to start practically from zero. The government
0f the Kingdom has, on principle, chosen for a policy of
free enterprise. Consequently, the less favorable circum-
stances in the Southwest Region form an extra restraint
on the industrial development. If we assume that neither
mining nor quarrying will be of great importance in the
future,

then the main resources for industrialization in

the Region are agriculture including animal husbandry and

115

:fisheries and manpower. These resources have their own
Jvimiting factors, agriculture in the availability of raw
nuaterials, in quality as well as in quantity, and for man-
£3Cflfler its limiting factor appears in the lack of skills.
Development of these resources only is not enough to
promote industrialization of the Region. The indus-
trial development plan should also aim at creating a
propitious industrial climate or, in other words, a
social climate that encourages entrepreneurs to start
manufacturing activities. At the same time, it should
be stimulated to transform the artisan industry, which
prevails in the Region, into small factory industry.
The development program suggests that the industrial devel-
opment program should be based on the following.
Training of the Available
Manpower
Roughly estimated, a sound regional manufacturing
industry will require 5,000 skilled laborers in l979-80.
This development of an industrial labor force calls for:
--training schemes for semi-skilled and skilled
labor, and
--training courses for supervisory personnel,
managers and entrepreneurs.
Creating a Favorable
Industrial Climate
It was recommended that key centers for industrial

development should be selected in the Region. The most

Promising urban areas to be considered as industrial growth

K

11bido ' pp. 109-110.

116

Jizan - with an estimated urban population of
80,000 in 1980 and
the Abha/Khamis Mushayt area - with an estimated

urban population of 43,000 in 1980.1

In addition, the program suggests the following

measures should be taken to stimulate the indus-

trialization in the two regional growth centers:

a.

_\

1

Ibid., p. 110.

the establishment of branches of the
"Industrial Studies and Development Centers"
in Jizan and Abha for industrial advisory
services.

the establishment of an industrial pre-
investment study fund for the Southwest Region
to finance studies for project identification
in the Region. This fund could be managed by
the ISDC.

the establishment of an "Industrial Development
Fund for the Southwest Region" to provide
long-term loans to industrial investors in the
Region. This fund could be managed by the
Saudi Arabian Industrial Bank.

the allocation of industrial areas and plant
sites in the areas of the Growth Centers.2
Next to these measures, the common utility

services, such as electric power supply, water

21bid., p. 111.

117

supply, other public services and the devel-

opment of physical infrastructure should be

provided.
Transformation of Existing
Artisan Industry

Because of the importance of this transformation

in the modernization process of Saudi-society, the program
has suggested that "a regional" Industrial Extension
Services office" should be established to start and guide
this transformation. This office could be a department
of the regional branches of ISDC. It will, however, not
limit its work to advisory services only. A program of
visits to plants, informal meetings, demonstrations, and

fairs should be carried out all through the Region.1

Development of Agro-Industries
Because raw material for agro-industries will not
be available before the end of 1980, a rapid development
of the agricultural potentials in the Region is not
expected. These raw materials are limited to:
a. seed cotton in the Coastal Plain, where in 1979
the first small ginnery will be needed (the cost

of such a ginnery is estimated at SR 1.2 million).

Ibid.

118

b. fruits (other than dates) in the Foothills, the
Dissected Highlands and the Upper and Middle
Wadi-areas.

c. dates in the Middle Wadi area.

d. vegetables in the Coastal Plain, the Foothills,
the Upper and Middle Wadi areas.

e. animal husbandry products (hides, skins, meat and
milk) mainly in the Coastal Plain. A study on
the possibility offisheries in the Red Sea is
being carried out, but the results are not

available yet.1

Most of these items can also be marketed as fresh pro-

ducts, especially in the central urban belt of the King-

dom, where probably higher prices can be obtained, also

because of the differences in harvesting seasons between

the Southwest Region and the rest of the country.
A program of feasibility studies for industries based
on these agricultural products should be carried out
some two years before production of the raw materials
in reasonable amounts can be expected. Furthermore,
it is recommended that the regional ISDC extension
service should set up a program to introduce modern

techniques fog preparing hides and skins in cooperation
with the FAO.

Development of Other
Industries
It is strongly recommended that factories which

can act as magnets attracting other industries should be

 

2

11bid., pp. 111-112. Ibid., p. 112.

119

established in the Region to encourage private investors
to make their investments in the Southwest Region. There—

fore,

the government should make efforts to the effects
that, if feasible, a cement plant with annual capacity
of 100,000 tons is erected in the Region near Jizan.
The investment cost of such a plant is estimated at
SR 50 million. The export possibilities of cement

to Yemen should also be investigated. The establish-
ment of the Petromin bulk plant in Jizan (estimated
investment SR 18 million) should be considered, also
in connection with the possible construction of a
cement plant in the Region. Also, feasibility studies
on the establishment of a soft drink bottling plant

in Jizan or Abha, or both, should be given priority,
and a feasibility study concerning marble industries
around Bisha and on industrial salt exploitation in
Jizan province are recommended.

Transport and Communication

 

Roads

The Ministry of Communication has a plan which
includes road projects under construction, designed or
under design. It represents a network that will fulfill
the needs of the Southwest Region to a high degree. There-
fore, the aim of the study done by ILACO was not to for-
mulate new road projects, except in the Foothill area.

The primary goal of their study about roads has been
to formulate a priority schedule for project imple-
mentation, based on economic and social criteria.

As for the economic analysis, a benefit-cost evalu-
ation has been made for each project. Benefits con-
sist of savings in costs of vehicle operating and
that part of the net value increase of agricultural
production which is judged to result from the road
project. Economic considerations are not the only

llbid., p. 112.

120

factors deciding priority ranking and thus the
implementation schedule. Also, social considerations,
as well as straight organizational matters (e.g.,
state of project preparationl may give rise to a
rearrangement of priorities.
The following table summararizes the priority schedule
and indicates, approximately, the timing of the capital

expenditures.

Seaports

The only important seaport in the Region is Jizan
Port, where the results of some studies of ports along
the Red Sea have shown that the development of this port
is the only feasible project in the Region. Its present
traffic is about 20,000 tons, the plan is to expand its
capacity to 200,000 tons in 1975, 370,000 tons in 1985,
and 480,000 tons in 1995. Therefore, the project is
economically submarginal, especially considering the
planned and ongoing construction of the major road net-
work.2 The project could be made more attractive, if part
of the present cargo of Jeddah (over 2.5 million tons per
year) could be diverted to Jizan. At the present time, it
is estimated that the Southwest Region imports about
350,000 tons, plus cement and fuel. In the future, with
'the industrial activities that are included in the develop-
Inent program of the Region, the port must be able to

receive all the cargo needed for the Region.

1 2

Ibid., p. 117. Ibid., p. 21.

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121.

 

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122

Airports
The improvement and extension program of airports
in the Southwest Region includes:
--extension of Jizan airport;
--construction of an airport in Najran for jetliner
service;
--improvement of terminal buildings for civil
traffic, in Khamis Mushayt;
--extension of Bisha airport.
Most of these projects are underway and completion is

expected before the end of 1976.

Telecommunications

There is progress in the program for the improve-
ment of the post offices and telecommunication facilities,
planned for the immediate future. According to the avail-
able information, it appears to be adequate to meet the

Region's requirements during the next decade.

Electric Power

 

The objective of the electricity development in
the Kingdom has a specific target and that is to electrify
most centers with populations of over 2,000, by the end
of the current plan period. For the Southwest Region,
three phases have been distinguished in the electrification

program:

123

1. It is recommended to combine as much as possible
the generating capacity in several central power
stations and to connect surrounding villages to
these stations in the first phase.

2. In phase two - construction of extended subtrans-
mission and distribution system (on KV service
voltage) should be started.

3. In the third phase, the connection of the different
centers in the Region must be completed so, by
1980, some 240,000 people (out of a total urban
and rural non-agricultural population of 300,000
in the Southwest Region) will have electricity.
Table 23 shows the investments in a regional
electrification program. The total investments
are estimated to amount to SR 110 million.

Government interest-free loans for the public
utilities, up to 75 percent of the capital costs,
are available to private entrepreneurs who are
interested in investments in this sector. A fair rate
of return on the investments is essential to insure
the continuity of the services. However, the dis-
persed location of relatively small communities, the
on-average small size of the generating plants, the
lack of diversity in the demand, and thus the low a
load and plant factors are responsible for a high
cost price of electric power.

Service Center Networks and
Municipalities

 

 

Objectives
Within the national framework the main objectives
of developing the physical infrastructure are:

--to increase the efficiency of the social and economic
services as much as possible to render optimum ser-
vices to the people;

--administration and organization of the people in the
rural areas in such a way that they can contribute to
and participate in their own development;

—-to promote development of viable communities, which
are the basic elements of the socio-economic structure
of the Kingdom;

 

1

Ibid., p. 128. Ibid., p. 129.

124

Table 23.--Investments in a Regional Electrification Pro-
gram, Southwest Region, 1972.

(SR million)

 

Phase I Establishment of Central Power and Connections
with surrounding communities:

 

Jizan 26.4

Abha/Khamis Mushayt 14.0

A1 Baha 10.8

Bisha 7.7

Najran 6.5

A1 Qunfudhah, Al Lith, Al Quz 4.0

(S. Mecca) ———— 69.4
Phase II First step to a Regional (33KV) system and

Extensions of Phase I

Abha (generation and extension)

A1 Baha (generation and extension) 4.1

Abha-AnNamas, Al Baha-Sabt Al'

Alayah (transmission and extension)

Mohayl (transmission and extension) 2.6

Isolated communities

(generation and extension) 2.5

____ 24.3

Phase III Extension of the Regional System

AnNamas-Sabt Al'Alayah (transmission

Sabt Al'Alayah-Bisha extegggon) 16.3

Al Qunfudhah, Muhayl,

South of Khamis Mushayt (extension)
Total Investment 110.0

(financed by Government on Loan 75% =
82.5 million)

 

Source: Central Planning Organization, Socio-
Economic Development Plan for the Southwest Region, Interim
Report, Phase A, Unpublished (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1972).

 

125

--to enable creation of rural living conditions that

are not too far below those of urban areas; thus it

is possible to curb rural outmigration insofar as it

is motivated by lack of public services.
Future Development

The realization of socio-economic services is not

only the means to attain the above objectives, but also
important to promote the economic development in the rural
areas. A well designed socio-economic infrastructure can
motivate the rural population to self-sustained activities
resulting in rural development. At the same time, a sound
rural infrastructure can generate a better social, adminis-
trative, economic, and physical structure (better markets,
roads, cooperatives, extension services, availability of
inputs, etc.) necessary for agricultural development. As
far as the location of services is concerned, an inte-
grated policy should be followed. The main point of such
a policy is that the services are to be concentrated in
so-called "service centers." Concentration of facilities
and services have a number of advantages: it makes welfare
more accessible for the peOple (beneficiaries), enhances
the living conditions for the government field personnel,
promotes social change and spontaneous growth of community
action and socio-economic organizations. Yet implementa-

tion of the policy will require a great deal of flexibility

in view of the variety of human and physiological features

 

1Ibid., p. 134.

126

within the Region. The program provides a guideline as

to the criteria to be used in selecting the sites and in
building the centers. In this connection the location of
the prospective centers, in relation to the general road
system, is very important. Lack of road connections will
seriously limit the viability of a center. On the basis
of certain criteria related to the range and capacity of
the services rendered, the number of population served
and, indirectly, the position in the communication network,
the program suggested--that the service centers are clas-
sified into (a) tertiary centers (at provincial level),

(b) secondary centers (at district level) and (c) primary
centers (at local, i.e., village level). This theoretical
classification is helpful in locating the several types of
centers in the Southwest Region. Also, it is suggested
that the center network in the Region should consist of
six tertiary centers of which two (Abha and Jizan) are
distinguished as growth centers or "growth poles" in view
of their relative importance in the future, and of 35
secondary centers. In addition to the secondary centers,
i.e., their inclusion in the network is not considered
essential, but left to the governments discretion for
specified reasons. Finally, a large number of primary
centers have to be selected which have not yet been
identified mainly owing to insufficient reliable data

concerning the present situation. As the functioning of

127

these primary centers is very important to the living
conditions at the local level, the government is advised
to complete the present structure of service centers by
identifying the primary centers as soon as the required

information is available, mainly a population census.
Health

Objectives

The main objective of health development in the
Southwest Region is to eliminate, as soon as possible, the
disparity in health coverage between the Region and the
nation. This can be done by providing the Region's popu-
lation with a range of curative and preventive health
services whose quantity and quality are up to national
standards.

The main activities are:

--to expand and improve the existing network of
health facilities in the Region, and the range
and nature of the services extended to the
people;

--to initiate and expand preventive health care,
of which health education is to be an integral
part.

Policies
The following policies are recommended:
--finalization of plans for a national health network
as defined in the development plan, i.e., the division
of the Region into health provinces and health units

could well fit in with the proposed future service
network;

 

1 .
Ibld., p. 136.

128

--cross-check (or establishment) of the personnel
anticipated in 1980 by the national standards and
criteria, incorporated in the Development Plan of
1970;

--priority ranking, facilities under construction or
completed, but still to be staffed should be given
first priority to make them operational as soon as
possible.

-—recruitment of more non-Saudi medical personnel,

if necessary, in order to meet shortages of qualified
Saudi personnel.

--revision of terms and conditions of work for medical
personnel (both Saudi and non-Saudi) to remove any
objections on their part against field assignments and
to insure optimum selection and recruitment criteria.
--short-term design and initiation of a general

health survey in the Kingdom to increase the knowledge
of and deepen the insight into the existing health
situation, and to provide the basis for subsequent
plans and action programs. This health survey could
be designed and conducted in cooperation with the
health department of one of the national universities,
and/or with international technical assistance.
--study of the possibility of establishing a health
department (under the auspices of a university) in the
Region, preferably in Abha, to increase training
opportunities for Saudi medical personnel, and to
stimulate the development of health in the Region.
--promotion of the process to have health regions and
units coincide with those of other ministries, even

if this would imply partial revision of the present

set up.1

Development Program

Facilities.--The plan suggested that the following

 

priorities apply in the case of programming and project
design:

--facilities under construction or completed should be
given first priority to make them operational as soon
as possible. In particular, this would apply to the
hospitals in Khamis Mushayt, Baljurishi, Sabya, Abu
Arish, Al Qunfudhah and Al Lith; completion of these
facilities has been retarded owing to various causes.

 

1Ibid., pp. 138-139.

129

Continuation of the present situation is undesirable.
Once completed the total bed capacity of all general
hospitals (50 beds and more) in the Region should be
considered adequate.

--early establishment of three minor (local) hospitals
in two of the relatively retarded and densely popu—
lated areas of the Region: the Foothills (two hos-
pitals, possibly in Muhayl and Mkhwah) and the
Southern part of Jizan province (a hospital preferably
in Samtah). The accommodation of these hospitals
should be 20-50 beds and staff could be limited to

six doctors and 18 paramedical assistants for each
unit. In the long run all health centers (secondary
service centers) will have to be provided with similar
accommodations.

--attention should be concentrated on expansion and
improvement of dispensaries (mainly curative) and
health centers (curative/preventive) at the secondary
center level.

--although the emphasis may be shifted towards the
higher levels of health care extension, the preceding
approach does not suggest that development should be
carried out "at the cost" of the local (village)
level. As the service aims at reaching the greatest
possible number of people, the services at village
level should not be neglected. Most polyclinical work
will continue to take place at the grassroots level.
The expansion of the health subcenter network should,
therefore, not be postponed until activities have been
carried out at higher levels. The quality of the
services may be improved by mobile dispensaries.

Manpower.--Given the current ratios between physical
health units and the corresponding number of staff members,
it is possible to estimate the number of doctors and para-
medical personnel needed to staff the health units in the
proposed service centers (tertiary and secondary only). In
the following table, the difference between the high and

low estimate relates to the fact that in the latter case

the 20 possible secondary centers are excluded and a

 

lIbid., p. 140.

130

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131

smaller staffing is assumed for the hospitals and_the
health units of the secondary centers. The number of
doctors required in 1980 according to the high estimate
corresponds with the current ratio of one doctor to 4,000
pe0p1e in the Region. If this ratio is applied to the
estimated population of 1.3 million in 1980, the figure
will be 325. This means that compared with the present
situation some 200 additional doctors will have to be
assigned to the Region. The majority of them will prob-
ably come from outside the Kingdom.1 In summary, manpower
requirements should be planned according to projected
needs, taking account of all following factors: (1) the
anticipated pattern of land use and settlement: (2) the
population projection, and (3) the subsequent projected
network of service centers. For 1980, the preceding
number of staff members (high estimates) should be adopted.
Although the regional population is expected to decrease
even further, the health standards then attained are to be
maintained, because in the meantime, the national standards
will have changed towards a more intensive health coverage.
Planning for training and development of personnel is to
be tuned to national needs, therefore recruitment of
foreign manpower should form an integral part of a national

program.2

 

l 2

Ibid., p. 141. Ibid., p. 142.

132

Public Education

 

Objectives

Planning for educational development in the South-
west Region is based on (a) the manpower requirements in
the Southwest Region, with special attention to those for
teachers and skilled labor in the secondary sector, and
(b) the objectives for education included in the Deve10p-
ment Plan of 1970. The primary national objective actually
consists of two interrelated parts:

(a) development of comprehensive systems of education,
training and information capable of providing
every individual in the Kingdom with the oppor-
tunity and the means to improve his knowledge,
skill and recreational talents (human welfare
approach).

(b) steering this development in such a way that,
apart from the humanitarian effect, education
will enhance the capability of people to con-
tribute more effectively to and participate in
national development and progress.

For the Southwestern Region the following major objective
can be added:

(0) reduction and ultimately elimination of the
Region's backlog in educational opportunities
and facilities as compared with the Kingdom as a
whole, and realization of an educational system
up to the national standards in 1980.

 

1Central Planning Organization, Development Plan,

1970.

2Central Planning Organization, Socio-Economic
Development Plan for the Southwest Region, p. 143.

 

133

Policy

In planning for the future of education improve-
ment in the Southwest Region, the Development Plan sug-
gests that the following points are to be taken into con-
sideration:

--The socio-economic development of the Region is
assumed to be based on a free economy, i.e., without
governmental interference in the natural process
determined by actual forces of the market economy and
free factor mobility.

--As a result of this policy the population in the
Region must be expected to decrease, an expected 1.3
million in 1980, owing mainly to outmigration in
general and urbanization of the Central Belt--Jedda,
Riyadh, and Damman, in particular.

--In order to curb the emergence of unskilled urban
labor, migrants should be adequately educated and
trained so that they can find suitable jobs and con-
tribute effectively to the development of the nation.
--Sound quantitative educational planning ought to

be supported by (a) up-to-date demographic data,

(b) a clear insight into the future development of
manpower structure, and (c) detailed statistical data
concerning the actual educational system. Improve-
ment of these vital tools for planning (insufficiently
available at present) should be given high priority.
--As it is unlikely that sufficient Saudis can be
trained to meet the demand for qualified teachers

for the present time, non-Saudi contract personnel
will have to be recruited. A revision of the terms
and conditions of work, especially with regard to
field assignments, may be necessary to attract suf-
ficient numbers of applicant teachers, both Saudi and
non-Saudi.

--In order to keep the system somewhat flexible, the
possibility should be explored of running schools
(especially elementary ones) in rented accommodations.
This will expedite the expansion of the school network
and enable even spread of construction cost over the
budget years.

--In order to meet the minimum targets in manpower
planning, the possibility of subsidizing certain types
of education should be considered. If enrollment does
not materialize according to the projections, this will
have serious effects upon the "production" volume of
subsequent educational institutions, and ultimately
retard the whole system. The allowance to be paid to

134

parents could equal that at present payable to students
of religious institutes (which have a noticeable effect

on enrollment).
Development Program

Elementary Education for Boys.--

The target of development for the elementary education
is to accommodate, by the year 1979—80, all children
between 6 and 12. If the total population in that

year numbers 1.3 million, those eligible for elementary
school enrollment in the Southwest Region is estimated
at 64,000é distributed among 503 schools, with 3,500
teachers.

The average investment in an elementary school
(including land) is estimated at SR 1.0 million. So
the investments required to expand the present school
network by nearly 200 schools would total SR 197

million.

Intermediate Education for Boys.-—Intermediate
school enrollment depends on the output of the elementary
schools and determines the scope of secondary education.

The Southwest Region's 1972 school population in the
Intermediate bracket was 6,400 students spread over

64 schools. As it is expected the number of certified
elementary school learners will increase from around
5,000 in 1972-73, to around 7,000 in 1974-75 and
10,000 in 1979-80. It is assumed that in these
respective school years 50 percent, 60 percent, and

85 percent (the national target for 1974-75) of the
graduates will continue their education at the Inter-
mediate level. On the basis of various assumptions,
there must be accommodations for around 20,000 students
by 1980.

 

11bid., pp. 147-154. 21bid., p. 144.

31bid., p. 145. 41bid.

135

Secondarnyducation for Boys.--The population of

 

Secondary schools in the Southwest Region was 620 in 1972.
There were nine schools and just about 30 percent of the
Intermediate school graduates enrolled in the Secondary
schools. This percentage is expected to rise to 40 in
1980 which is less than the 50 percent national target
according to the Deve10pment plan of 1970. Due to the
pressure of the manpower market in the Region, especially
regarding teachers and industrial vocational trainees,
other educational opportunities, e.g., religious schools,
as well as the urge to seek a job, the intake of general
Secondary schools is not likely to be much beyond the 40

percent indicated before.

Girls Education.--In the school year 1972-73,

 

enrollment of girls in the Southwest Region schools
amounted to 10,500 pupils attending ten Intermediate
schools and some 30 attending the only Secondary school
of the Region, in Jizan. The target for Elementary edu-
cation is to reduce the current boy/girl ratio of 6:1 to
3:1, by 1980. Consequently, the total enrollment will
increase from 10,500 in 1972/73 to 35,700 in 1979-80. The
estimated investment program is summarized in Table 25.
In general the opportunities for girls to participate
more directly in the development of the community, the
Region and the nation should be greatly improved by

encouraging them to follow formal and vocational training.

136

Table 25.--Enrollment and Investment in Girl's Elementary
Education, 1972-1980, Southwest Region.

 

 

Number Investments in
Total Number of . .
Year Enrollment Of Teachers new buildings
Schools (SR million)c
1972-73 10,500a 64a 350-525
1973-74 13,900 78d 450—700 Budgeted 4.2
1974-75 17,700 99 600-900
1977-78 30,000 167 1000-1500 13.6
1979-80 35,700 199 1200-1800 6.4

 

Source: Central Planning Organization, Socio-
Economic Development Plan for the Southwest Region,
Interim Report, Phase A, Unpublished (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
1972).

aActuals based on official information.

bFigure corresponds with an assumed teacher/pupil
ratio of 1:30 and 1:20, respectively.

CEstablishment cost one Elementary school unit
with capacity of 180 (6 x 30) pupils estimated at SR 0.2
million, including land. Budget appropriations to be
made one year before the new school(s) are to be in
Operation.

dBased on a school capacity of 180 (6 x 30) pupils.

137

Although conservatism is still strong in rural society,
there are signs that the attitude towards girls education
is changing. In any event, the situation of girls edu-
cation (particularly other than elementary education)

should be studied more closely for future planning.

Industrial Vocational Trainin .--

 

The development of small scale industries and
agro-industries in the Region asks for improvement
of technical skills. Besides, it is desirable to
prepare immigrants for jobs in industry outside the
Region. Vocational training in the Region will
increase the possibilities of finding suitable employ-
ment and relieve vocational training centers in other
regions. If the number of trainees is assumed to
grow from 64 (i.e., the actual number of the Abha
Vocational School) in 1972 to around 700 at the end of
1980, the total number of graduates (semi-skilled),
trained in the Region, will be 2,500 to 3,000, if
there are no drop-outs and the duration of training
is up to one year. Even then, only 50-60 percent of
the vacancies in 1980 can be filled.

The plan, according to this expectation, suggests that
additional schools must be built in Abha, Al Baha, Khamis
Mushayt, Jizan, Najran, Al Qunfudhah and Abu Arish. Also,
it recommended optimum cooperation and coordination between
the government agencies involved in vocational training

and education, particularly the Ministries of Labor and

Social Affairs and Education.

Agricultural Vocational Training.--

 

The projected rise of net value of crop and live-
stock production in the Region from SR 137.5 million
in 1972 through SR 167 million in 1980 to SR 425

 

lIbid., p. 153.

138

million in the year 2000 will require a considerable
increase in agricultural knowhow and managerial skill
of the farmer. This implies that, in addition to
improvement in the general education sector, the
vocational training for agriculture in the Region
should start as soon as possible.1

The development program suggests four types of vocational

training for agriculture as follows:

1.

Farmers Training Centers - This type of training
provides short (one day to two week) courses for
farmers to make them familiar with the latest
innovations of the agricultural extension service,
and long (four months) courses for three years

for young farmers and farmers' sons, the latter
course providing training in agriculture at a
level between elementary and intermediate.

An Agricultural School (Ministry of Education) -
There is no such school (on secondary level) in
the Region, therefore, it is proposed to establish
one in Khamis Mushayt, preferably near the pro-
posed experimental station. Building and invest—
ment costs of this type of school with appendices
(staff houses, boarding facilities, training
accommodation and equipment, etc.) is estimated as
SR 5 million.

An Agricultural Training Institute (Ministry of

Agriculture and Water) - As mentioned before, 250

 

1Ibid., p. 154.

139

qualified extension officers should be available
by the end of 1979-80. If it is assumed that the
present 100 extension workers (50 percent of whom
are qualified) will be fully qualified in 1980,

the training program should be geared to a required
additional number of 150 officers over the next
five years. The training institute is to provide:
(a) 3-4 years training courses for prospective
extension officers and subject matters specialists,
and (b) short term in-service training courses,
mainly for active personnel, as well as for others.
It is proposed for Abu Arish as it is near the
agricultural experimental station (Hakmah) and

not far from the Jizan Dam. Cost estimated at

SR 5 million.

An Agricultural Faculty - In View of the specific
character of the Region, i.e., climatic and soil
conditions, agricultural possibilities, there is a
great need for research and (higher) education to
be focused on these aspects. It is, therefore,
proposed that an agricultural faculty should be
established, preferably in the Abha/Khamis Mushayt

area to form a link with the agricultural school.

140
Other Social Services

Social Security
The people have become increasingly aware of and
interested in the national (non-contributing) social
security scheme. The present network has not enough
facilities and personnel to meet the requirements of most
provinces. Ultimately, all tertiary and secondary service
centers should have either a social security office or
sub-office, so that emergencies can be dealt with promptly.
In building up the network, the program suggests that
four points seem to be of special interest: (a) sim-
plification of the administrative procedures, (b)
expansion of the service points, (c) priority treat-
ment of the faraway cases, and (d) revision of service
conditions of personnel so as to attract more and
betterlqualified officials and promote motivation of
staff.
Community Development
Community development as a national program will
be further assessed from the results of the various pro-
jects initiated in recent years. In this connection it
should be decided to what extent community development is
to be continued as a more or less independent program or
remodelled into a useful tool for integrated rural devel-
opment. The government objective to encourage popular
participation in development at the local level is strongly
supported. Nevertheless, consultants believe that this

11bid., p. 157.

141

could be better achieved through intensifying coordinated
government efforts via local extensions of the various
ministries, which could adopt the community development
approach as a common instrument. The program suggests
that the Diriyah CD center for training and applied
research, and possibly some of the field branches could
be extended to provide short-term training courses in
community development for selected field officials of

the various ministries. The centers could also act as
applied research stations with regard to special social

subjects related to development at village level.

Cooperatives

The development plan recommended that the induce-
ment and, the functioning of cooperative societies in
traditionalistic communities be carefully evaluated in
the light of recent experience. The main reason for a
cautious approach is that this form of economic organi-
zation has often proved to be a rather drastic innovation,
which may not be expected to be successful as long as some
basic conditions are not fulfilled. These conditions are:
(a) a more positive attitude of the local population
towards this kind of purposive venture which presupposes
their willingness to meet individual (and community)
needs through collective efforts by modern means and
‘techniques, and (b) the availability of dedicated leader-

ship-which enjoys the confidence of the members

142

(shareholders), combines wisdom, tact and integrity, and

is aware of social and economic factors that are bound to
impede the rural cooperative society for the time being.

In this process the role of the administration with regard
to organizational and technical guidance and administrative

supervision is of vital importance.

Youth Development

Apart from some secondary schools, there are no
opportunities for athletics in the Region. Development
of the Boy Scouts Program, organization of summer camps,
sports and other leisure time activities for youth (school
going or not) would not only greatly enhance the attraction
(or alleviate the burden) of rural life, but also contribute
to the development of personality (adaptability, team
spirit, solidarity and civic responsibility). Apart from
the physical development and recreation, youth should be
given considerable attention in radio programs and, in
the future, television programs that ought to be tuned to

its specific needs and interests.

Labor Affairs

The new labor and insurance laws, enforced in
1969, have, of course, been designed to meet require-
ments of an expanding and changing industrial situ-
ation. However, these laws seem to be rather sophis-
ticated for the predominantly agricultural Southwest
Region and cannot (always) be used. This situation
will probably have to be changed because of the pro-
posed rapid development of the Region, particularly,
the envisaged expansion of the educational and voca-
tional training programs. Consequently, the need for

143

effective labor institutions will rapidly increase in
view of the conversion of artisan industry into small-
scale, largely agro-industries, and large-scale out-
migration. The responsibility of the labor and
employment information units in the Region for both
the demand and the supply of labor will grow. School
leavers, and in general, all unemployed persons, need
to have accurate and timely information about the job
opportunities within and outside the Region, including
the nature of the work and the terms and conditions of
employment. The employers who have Openings for new
workers will have to be informed about the quantity and
quality of those seeking employment. The important
dual function of the Region's labor offices (employ-
ment clearing center and labor exchange) will require
thorough reorientation and remodelling.

The reorganized labor offices are proposed for Abha, Jizan,
Al Bahah, Najran, Bisha, A1 Qunfudhah and Al Lith. Staff
will have to be enlarged and adequately prepared for the

new tasks.

Public Information
There is no doubt that proper information will

guide the people on the path of change, make modern life
more meaningful and get them to take an active part in
building their future, and that of the nation. The most
effective information media are radio and television.
There is a plan for the establishment of a powerful broad-
casting transmission station in Jizan which is to cover
the Southern area of the Kingdom.

As for television, two stations are reported to have

been planned, one in Abha and one in Jizan; the former

is to be the first place in the Kingdom to transmit

color television. As for the programs to be broad-
cast, it should appeal to the population, and relate

 

11bid., p. 158.

144

to their day-to-day interests, needs and problems.

The development plan suggests that the major subjects
may be: religion, literacy (to combat illiteracy),
public health (e.g., prevention, nutrition, hygiene)
and agriculture (e.g., new methods and techniques,
extension services, marketing, etc.), women's pro—
grams (housekeeping, home economics, child care, etc.),
education (school radio), and information on develop-
ment projects of special interest (rural and community
development, cooperative, people's participation,
etc.).

/\

Social Structure

The Region's society will pass through a process
of change, largely activated by the government's effort to
improve welfare and the socio—economic infrastructure. It
has to be realized that the transition from one social
system into another needs appropriate guidance, so that
time-honored moral values and social stability are pre-
served. Therefore, change should primarily mean progress.
In this matter it is important that before or at the time
of integrated development planning, a social research
program should be initiated so as to provide vital social
data for the government agencies engaged in regional and
local development. Thus, it might be forecast how people

will respond to certain projects that are designed for

 

their benefit and whether or not certain policies are
likely to work: if not, how these policies should be
modified to be effective. The program recommended that

the social research program should consist of two
components: (a) basic research, and (b) applied

 

11bid., p. 160.

145

social research which must deal with:

--the social consequences of migration,

--social aspects of agricultural development,

--the capacity of territorial groups,

--the potentials and constraints with regard to
enlisting full popular support for and participation
in development programs and the capacity of the civil
service to induce this process,

--social attitudes towards change and progress in
general.

Also, it was suggested, as for the set—up of the research
programs, first of all, that the national universities
should be approached, whereas cooperation with universities

outside the Kingdom might be sought.

Drinking Water Development

 

The areas of the Region which have drinking water
problems are the higher-lying Foothills and the Western
Scarp Slope. The aquifers, if any, are very shallow and
in the dry period many people are forced to go down to
the valleys for water. Abha is another problem area. The
aquifers in the Highlands around Abha are very shallow,
further extraction of ground water upstream of the Abha
Dam will effect storage. At some places surface storage
is still possible, although undoubtedly at very high costs.
Without topographic contour maps this potential cannot be
quantified. The plan suggested that the only effective
solution to the drinking water problem of Abha viz. is
supply from the aquifers in the Upper Wadi-Bisha near

Khamis Mushayt. These aquifers contain sufficient ground

 

11bid., p. 161.

146

water to satisfy the domestic water needs of both Khamis
Mushayt and Abha.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Water has drafted an
extensive program for drinking water supply in the

Kingdom. The 1972-73 budget appfopriates nearly
SR 500 million for this purpose.

Urban Housing

 

Migration from the rural areas of Saudi Arabia to
the urban centers, and the huge number of foreign tech-
nicians needed for the development programs of the Kingdom,
added another obstacle to the problem of housing in the
country. The implications of large-scale urbanization
for the cities of the Kingdom are clear. Given the popu-
lation explosion in the towns and cities, the constant
influx of people from the rural areas will put a serious
strain on the urban accommodating capacity and give rise
to a series of significant social problems. Therefore, it
is recommended that every possible effort should be made,
right away, to prevent the present situation in the cities
from enlarging into a social drama.

The urgency of the matter is increasingly realized

by the Saudi Government. It is agreed that adequate
housing promotes social stability and prevents a

decline in public morality which so often results from
poor housing. Economically speaking, the execution

of housing programs will stimulate the building industry,

create more employment opportunities and thus contribute
to prosperity.

 

l 2

Ibid., p. 162. Ibid., p. 163.

147

Therefore, the government has engaged international con-
sultants to assist in the formulation of a well-conceived

housing policy and realistic housing program for all

regions of the Kingdom.

CHAPTER V

THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OF THE

SOUTHWEST REGION

Concepts and Definitions

 

Community development is an instrument and a
method based on investigations of scientific grounds and
aims at promoting standards of living and introducing
usefq} change in ways of thought, action, and living of
the developing local communities, urban and rural, with
the full utilization of their material potentials and
human powers in a process that harmonizes their needs

1

with their traditions. In the last quarter of the cen-

tury, commonity development "has become the universal
concept applied to national programs for development,"2
and the term has been used widely around the world. Over

the years, community development has been a rural-bound

 

1Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Development
of Social Affairs in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
1973). P. 1.

2Institute for Community Development, Michigan
State University, A Holistic Approach to Community
Development (East Lansing: Continuing Education Service,
Michigan State University, 1966), p. l.

 

 

 

148

149

movement. In Asia, the Middle East and Africa, national
Community Development programs were undertaken as part of
a strategy for rural development. Chief among the con-
cerns of the latter has been the social and economic
uplift of the village, which it seeks to realize by
building a rural infrastructure, improving the supply of--
and stimulating the demand for--social services, increasing
agricultural productivity and developing human resources.
Within this rural-agricultural matrix! community develop-
ment programs and techniques--allowing for regional,
national and subnational variants--have evolved to their
present stage.l Community Development with its emphasis
_on change, popular participation and leadership training,
\involyedva_dynamic interaction between the central govern-
‘ment and the village. Although, it was not possible in
every country to achieve this kind of relationship, still
Community Development has become

an instrument for forging a more constructive role for

government in development, helping to establish on

the one hand, a better understanding between ruler and

ruled within the village, and between centgal govern-

ment and Village authorities on the other.
In different parts of the world community development

activities, varying in form and approach, ranging from

fully integrated programs with their own administrative

 

1United Nations, Popular Participation in Develop-
ment: Emerging Trends in Community DevEIopment (New York:
U.N. Publications, 1971). p. l.

2

 

 

Ibid., p. 8.

150

structure to individual local projects, reflect a trend
towards a particular strategy of national development,
incorporating a certain set of assumptions about rural
communities and the most effective ways of bringing change
in them.

Such a strategy is based on the desirability of

giving priority to investment for increasing agri-

cultural output, of improving amenities and social

services in rural communities, and strengthening

rural institutions.
This strategy, by itself, however, does not constitute
community development unless they are implemented within
a given framework, crucial elements of which are the con-
cept of felt needs, local involvement and popular partici-
pation, working with groups and communities rather than
individuals and using integrated approaches to development.

Infmany developing countries, community develop- \

. ment has awakened the national leaders, policy makers and
planners to the need and importance of rural development
and local planning and has enhanced the contributions of
rural communities to national development. It has also
represented an attempt to achieve a balanced growth in

the human and material resources of nations and in this

it has, to some extent, helped to redress the bias towards
largely urban and industrial-oriented development efforts.

People in some developing societies look at com-

munity development as a way or method which aims to create

 

lIbid.

151

a self-determining society in which the people as a whole
can and will exercise a constructive and productive role

in the life of the nation. To help in solving social,

1— ‘

economic and political problems they are facing

community development will cause the people to view

their situation in a new light, realize new hope for
its improvement, and experience the satisfaction of

growth in their capacity for achievement.

William Biddle defines community development as a social
process "by which human beings can become more competent

to live with and gain some control over local aspects of

2

a frustrating and changing world." At the same time,

Professor A. Dunham defines community development as

an organized effort to improve the conditions of a
community life and the capacity for community inte-
gration and self-direction--community development
seeks to work primarily through the enlistment and
organization of self-help and cooperative efforts on
the part of the residents of the community, but
usually with technical assistance from governmental
or voluntary organizations.

So, promotion and improvement of the community is the goal
of the community development with emphasis on the partici-

pation of the members of the community, as it shows in

 

1Richard Waverly Poston, Democracy Speaks Many
Tongues (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1962),
p. 186.

2William w. Biddle and Louieide J. Biddle, The
Community Development Process (New York: Holt, Rinehart
and Winston, Incf), p. 78.

3Peter DuSautoy, The Organization of a Community

3 Development Program (London: Oxford University Press,
1962): Pp. 122-1:3.

 

 

 

 

152

the report of the Ashridge Conference on Social Develop-
ment in 1954.
It was stated that

community development is a movement designed to pro-
mote better living for the whole community with the
active participation and, if possible, on the initiative
of the community, but if this initiative is not forth-
coming spontaneously, by the use of techniques for
arousing and stimulating it in order to secure the
active and enthusiastic response to the movement.

Community development was described as a process of social
action in a definition given by the U.S. International
Cooperation Administration:

. . . community development is a process of social
action in which the people of a community organize
themselves for planning and action, define their
common and individual needs and problems, make group
and individual plans to meet their needs and solve
their problems, execute these plans with a maximum
reliance upon community resources, and supplement
these resources when necessary with services and
materials from governmental and non-governmental
agencies outside the community.

In the rural areasof the developing countries,

where, the lack of knowledge and knowhow is affecting the

1__ __

development process, technical assistance is required in

“N“ a,

Lorder to help people to learn how to help themselves.////

1 ‘\ ”a..-
«.__;-— .,

Speaking about social action in community development,
Professor Charles Hoffer brings about the aspects which
involved the action process. These aspects are:

(1) initiation

(2) legitimation

(3) execution.

 

1 2

Ibid., p. 122. Ibid., p. 123.

153

He summarizes these three aspects in the quotation to
follow:

Social action is a complicated process, but certain
aspects of it may be delineated for purposes of
analysis. One aspect is initiation. The plan for
this project must be proposed in a manner which makes
it seem like a logical and necessary step. The
second aspect is legitimation or approval, otherwise
the proposal will not be accepted. The third step is
executioner carrying out the project once it has been
approved. This may be done by any organization in
the community which assumes the responsibility, or by
the formation of a special committee to carry out the
proposal. Finally, an organization or agency may be
employed to do the work.

Sometimes community development is also considered
as both technique and a movement. Dr. R. Lal of India
says:

when it is concerned with only a section of agricul-
tural population and/or covers only some of their
problems, as in the U.K. and the U.S.A., it remains

as a technique. But, when it embraces within its wide
arms millions of rural men, women, and communities
along with the totality of their numerous problems,

as in India, it becomes a movement.

Speaking about the term community itself we can
define it as any group of people living in an area with
geographical boundaries who share common interests of
sufficient importance in their lives and possess certain

social institutions which help them to meet their basic

needs and participate jointly in maintaining these

 

1R. Charles Hoffer, Michigan Communities (East
Lansing: Michigan State University, 1964), p. 114.

2R. Lal, Community Development Principles and
Problems (Calcutta, India: Bookland, 1963), p. vii.

 

154

institutions. Therefore, the community may be determined
by the following four basic and essential characteristics:
(1) locality
(2) common interest
(3) the existence of the basic social institution
(4) the participation of the people.

Professor W. J. Kimball, of Michigan State Univer-
sity, in his presentation, "Understanding the Community,"
discusses different definitions given to the term com-
munity, by different scholars. The first one is Lee Cary
of the University of Missouri who says: "community, as
the term is used here, refers to people who live in some
spatial relationship to one another, and who share inter-
ests and values."2

The second one is Lurin Sanders who defines com-
munity in sociological terms:

a community is a territorially organized system
co-extensive with a settlement pattern in which

(1) an effective communications network operates,
(2) people share common facilities and services dis-

tributed within this settlement pattern and (3)
people develop a psychological identification with

the ”locality and symbol" (the name).3

 

1Salah El-Abd, An A roach to Integrated Rural
Development in Africa (Sirs El-Layyan, Egypt: Regional
Center for Functional Literacy in Rural Areas for the
Arab States (ASFEC), 1973), pp. 33-34.

2William J. Kimball, Understanding Community
(East Lansing: Michigan State University, 1975), p. 1.

31bid., p. 2.

155

The third scholar is Robert Park of the University
of Chicago who defined community as

the essential characteristics of a community so con-
ceived are those of: (l) a population territorially
organized, (2) more or less completely rooted in the
soil it occupies, (3) its individual units living in
a relationship of mutual interdependence that is
symbiotic rather than societal in the sense that the
term applies to human beings.

Loomis and Beegle of Michigan State University ‘*—'
prefer a less complex definition: "The community may be
defined as a social system encompassing a territorial
unit within which members carry on most of their day-to-
day activities necessary in meeting common needs."2 The
key characteristics of a community, according to Professor
Kimball are:

(l) a group of people,
(2) shared interests, attitudes, and activities,
(3) common identity (agreement on a locality--perhaps

a name),

(4) frequent and continuing interaction,
(5) living in an identifiable territory (space which
can be mapped).3

In addition to the above mentioned concepts and
definitions, national programs of community development

are found, today, in various forms and under different

names in a considerable number of countries of Asia,

 

1 2

Ibid. Ibid.

31b1d.

156

Africa, Latin America, and some parts of Europe. It

seems there is a general agreement or common thought

that community development should imply:

1.

4.

A planning program with a focus on the total
needs of the village community,

Technical assistance,

Integrating various specialties for the help of
the community,

A major emphasis upon self-help and participation
by the residents of the community.

For the purpose of this study and as it was

accepted at least to a certain extent in Saudi Arabia, the

following definition, which was set up by the United

Nations, is considered as a guideline.

This definition has obtained wide acceptance among
social scientists and practitioners throughout the
world and has to some extent, at least, guided the
course of community development activities in many
countries. The main elements of this definition and
its elaboration are:

l.

The term Community Development has come into
international usage to connote the process by
which the efforts of the people themselves are
united with those of governmental authorities to
improve the economic, social and cultural con-
ditions of communities to integrate these com-
munities into the life of the nation, and to
enable them to contribute fully to national prog-
ress.

This complex process is then made up of two

essential elements:

a. The participation of the people themselves in
efforts to improve their level of living with,
as much reliance as possible on their own
initiative.

157

b. The provision of technical and other services
in ways which encourage initiative self-help
and mutual help and make these more effective.
It is expressed in programs designed to achieve
a wide variety of specific improvements.

These programs are usually concerned with local

communities because of the fact that the people living in
a locality have many and varied interests in common. Some
of these interests are expressed through functional groups
organized to further a more limited range of interests
not primarily determined by locality. Therefore,
if participation of the peOple is to make a signifi-
cant contribution to social and economic development
throughout a country or territory, it should be under-
taken within the framework of a national plan covering
a large number of the smaller communities.

According to the U.N. definition, community devel-
opment has been defined as a process designed to create
conditions of economic and social progress for the whole
community with its active participation and the fullest
possible reliance upon the community's initiative.

Its success as a process depends upon:
a. The people's capacity for cooperation, self-help
and ability to assimilate and adopt new ways of

living. 3

b. The extension of technical knowledge.
Also, as a process, community development emphasizes the

change in culture patterns through which the community

 

1United Nations, Popular Participation in Develop-
ment: Emerging Trends in Communitnyevelopment, p. 6.

2

 

 

Ibid., p. 6.

3Salah El-Abd, An Approach to Integrated Rural

Development in Africa, p. 62.

 

 

158

moves from one stage to another. It attempts to eliminate
obstacles to such growth. It also changes the attitude

of people by making them more receptive to change and by
making them capable of adopting new technical ways and
capable of adjusting to such changes.

As a method, Community Development attempts to
achieve well defined objectives. It focuses upon accom-
plishment. It is concerned with whether the per capita
income going up or down, and by how much. It also tries
to measure the rise in the literacy rate, the fall in the
death rate, the change in social attitudes, etc., and the
effectiveness of the method.

As a program, Community Development focuses on
the content of the program. It tries to have a large
volume of activities and a balanced program. It tries to
see how a balanced educational program, for both children
and adults, is combined with literacy education and how
education, as one activity, is balanced with health and
economic programs.

As a movement, Community Deve10pment is a peaceful
reform which attempts to eliminate poverty and illness
among the great masses of the under-privileged classes of
humanity by efforts of the people themselves. It does
not intend to change the political set-up of the country,
but tries to strengthen the existing one by eliminating

some of the evils which result from the lack of

159

understanding of the existing political system. For
instance, in the Capitalist system, it attempts to raise
the economic and social standard of the majority of the
people in order to bridge the gap between the extreme
social classes in the country, thus developing community
sentiment and avoiding community conflict.

As an organization, Community Development is

 

regarded as a group of persons united for a definite pur-
pose. In this sense, organizational structure is simply
a device for getting things done. It is required for the
achievement of objectives. It attempts to help people to
improve their cooperative action and to have more interest
in community goals. It reorients the existing insti-
tutions and creates other types of institutions for making
self-help fully effective and for providing the necessary
channel for government services.1
In this context, we can say that Community
Development has general and specific objectives. The gen-
eral objectives can be summarized as follows:

a. To make maximum use of available resources
(natural, human, capital, technical, and insti-
tutional) for meeting the felt and most basic
needs of the community.

b. Democratically to assist in bringing about changes

which will remove fear of want.

 

1Ibid., pp. 63-64.

160

c. To bring about mutual understanding among agencies,

which exist to achieve a higher standard of living.
The specific objectives are summarized as follows:

a. To coordinate the services of the technical
departments and the universities and make them
communicable to the average citizens.

b. To provide training facilities for all levels of
workers (paid and voluntary) by establishing pro-
fessional institutions for this purpose.

c. To assist in building effective working relation-
ships among villages, districts, regions, nation
building departments.

d. To assist in establishing the proper organizational
machinery for the best possible results in social
and economic development.

Keeping these objectives in mind, it should be noted that
there are certain procedures used in any community work
in order to achieve these objectives.

Application of Community Development
Principles in Saudi Arabia

 

 

As mentioned in the previous section, the imple-
mentation of the U.N. definitions have been applied to
the Saudi Community Development programs, which aims to
help people of the communities to learn how to help them-
selves with technical assistance and several kinds of

services provided by the specialists in order to encourage

161

the initiation of self-help. It aims at human development
through the promotion of self-reliance and changes in social
attitudes, ideas and habits which, in turn, will make it
possible for the people, mainly through their own efforts,
to increase their income, improve their living conditions
and utilize processes as a means of achieving community
objectives. Therefore, it is a multi-purpose coordinating
program intended to meet major community needs, including
activities in many fields, such as:

1. Agricultural development,

2. Adult Education,

3. Health Service,

4. Social Welfare,

5. Development and improvement of local crafts and

trades.

Thus, Community Development in Saudi Arabia is involved
with the government and the people of the country, in
enhancing the economic and social progress of rural and
urban communities through definite local needs and meeting
these needs through the full and organized utilization of

available community resources.

Historical Background

 

The Initiation
The first community development pilot center in

the country was inaugurated in Diriyah village, in

162

October, 1960. It is worthwhile to look at the background
of this village as a model because of the common life
situation in the rural communities of the country.

f; Diriyah village is located in the central province
of Saudi Arabia. Eighty percent of its population are
farmers and the rest have various kinds of jobs. The
majority of the farmers own their land. However, size of
ownership varies considerably. Some families own many
acres of land, others own few. Size of farm is positively
related to size of family. The farmers did not have the
experience of using modern machinery for plowing and
planting and they did not have enough money to purchase
modern machinery. Primitive ways of farming were still
used. The main products are vegetables, dates, wheat and
some fruits. All the products are sold in Riyadh, the
capital city, which is about twelve miles from the village.
This community--as others in the country--had no industrial
development. Many of its members--especially the young
people--were leaving their community for the city where
they could find easier and better jobs and they could
obtain better education.

Since Community Development is to be carried on, not
for, but with, and so far as possible, by the resi-
dents of the community, the program should start with
the felt needs of the villagers. It should also
involve the participation of as many people as pos-
sible. The skilled community development workers are
expediters and helpers: it is not his function either
to dictate courses of action or to "take over" the

community's problem and relieve the people of the
community from finding their own solutions. The

163

development of local leadership and of village coun—

cils, or other devices, for democratic discussion and

action are among the most important aspects of a com-

munity program.
Members of this community felt the need for help to change
their living conditions. They recognized the need for
modern schools, a health center, modern agricultural
machinery, and advisors to recommend better methods of
farming. They felt that the above mentioned problems were
steadily growing. These problems were plainly understood
by only a few members of the community who felt the need
for change.

The immediate and pressing circumstances brought

the problems to the foremost attention in the year 1958.
The need for a better educational program was expressed
by some individuals who came in contact with the city life.
They were unable to secure jobs in the city because they
were uneducated or trained. Others noticed the successful
gains which resulted from the improvements of agricultural

methods in some other communities which had the help of

specialists.

The Legitimation
The problems were then brought to the attention
of the government from different communities in different

parts of the country including some of the Southwest

 

1Arthur Dunham, Community Welfare Orggnization
(New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1962), p. 253.

 

164

Region's communities by those members who wrote letters to
responsible figures in the government asking for the help
of the government in order to improve their living con-
dition. The reason for their request was their under-
standing that the government is responsible for improving
their condition, and because they had a limited ability to
do this. When the problem was relayed to the government
officials, representatives of some communities were asked
to be guides in a survey of the community's problem area.
Government officials participated as observers according to
community routine. This routine was in the form of pre-
liminary activities--such as walking among the community
members and studying their ways and means of living and
their traditions. By so doing, they were able to observe
that a large proportion were unaware of better living con-
ditions. Further information was obtained by the direct
contact with leaders of the community who helped in
collecting information needed about the problems. The
leaders were their religious men, who are very respected
in the rural area, and the heads of large families who
act as the community council.

Then, some formal discussions were started between
different departments concerned with the rural areas.
With assistance of some experts and advisors--who were

imported--planning was started for organizing community

165

development program. The project was legalized from the

Cabinet which acts as the legislature in the country.

The Execution

When the survey was done and the plan was studied
and approved, the government, with the cooperation of the
United Nations, established the Community Development
Program by inaugurating the first community development
pilot project in the community of Diriyah, in 1960.

The early results of the social, cultural and
economic aspects achieved by the pilot project stimulated
the government to expand the program to other needy areas.
Consequently, in 1961, five centers were opened in dif-
ferent rural areas. In the next year, 1962, another
expansion of the program followed by setting up ten more
community development centers. Five of them were in rural

areas and five in urban places of five cities.

Goals of the Project

 

As it was mentioned before, the project aims at
human deveIOpment, through the promotion of self-reliance
and changes in social attitudes: it aims toward the
development of self-help practices within the local com-
munities: it aims towards building up local community
self-autonomy to raise and meet effectively the changing
and vital needs of its inhabitants. In these broad lines,

the project includes the following objectives:

166

The discovery and development of local leadership.
The development of new social organizations
(village councils, committees, cooperatives,
clubs, etc.) in which people can work jointly for
the welfare of their communities.

The study of local community resources and poten-
tialities (social-economic) in order to help the
citizens utilize them effectively and develop
them continuously.

The introduction of new social economic activities
which enrich community life and strengthen citi-
zen's loyalty to their communities.

The introduction of new and favorable social
values.

The integration of coordination of the public
welfare services rendered by different local
institutions.

The fundamental training of citizens to acquire
basic knowledge, skills and attitudes which make
them good citizens.

The betterment of the standards of living in the
local community from all sides (social, health,
cultural, and economic).

Development of prevailing traditions and habits

so as to support development processes, and

167

elimination of traditions and habits that handicap
and are detrimental to progress.

10. Development of correlation and coordination between
governmental agencies and local efforts within the
local communities.1
Thus, the program uses the local institutions as a

basis for establishing inter-communications toward desired
cultural changes. The participation of the community
members, through their own institutions, not only gives
them a chance to develop a feeling of need for a change,
but also enables them to work out in their own way adjust—
ments which will fit the new pattern of existing customs.
Therefore, each community development center makes a care-
ful study of the existing institutions in order to under-
stand the broad composite picture of how they carry on
their roles and their status and pattern of influence in
the community. On the basis of this study, an,attempt is
always made to help them to play their roles more effec-
tively. In the planning and execution of community pro-
grams, these institutions are always encouraged to work in
collaboration with the community development schemes.
Other social institutions and agencies, such as cooperative

societies, social security bureaus, youth organizations

 

1Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Development
of Social Affairs in Saudi Arabia, p. 2.

 

 

168

and women's societies are also formed to meet various com-

munity needs.

Organizational Structure

 

The Saudi community development project is an

integrated approach to the field of community welfare.

The program was based on the participation of four minis-

tries which are concerned about the rural areas and there

is a similarity in, and their activities are related.

Those ministries are:

Ministry of Agriculture

Ministry of Education

Ministry of Health

Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, which is
administratively responsible (see Chart 3).

For the unique character of the project, the

following organizations were designed to plan, operate

and supervise the scheme:

1.

The Central community development committee--or
National Committee--is made up of representatives
of the four ministries, and two other representa-
tives, one of them from the Ministry of Finance
and the other from the Central Planning Organi-
zation. Among other functions, this committee
mainly formulates the general policy of the com-
munity development program, plans and coordinates

the activities of the concerned bodies.

169

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170

The Regional Community Development Committee

includes the regional representatives of the four

participating ministries who assume the respon-

sibility of coordinating, supervising and following

up the activities of the community development

centers functioning in their respective areas.

The Community Development Center is composed of

the following divisions:

a. Social Division with male and female social
workers,

b. Health Division with a physician, nurse and
sanitarian,

c. Agricultural Division with an agricultural
worker and specialists,

d. Cultural Division with a literacy specialist,

e. The Director of the Center and his adminis-
trative staff.

The Community Development Department at the

Ministry of Social Affairs implements and follows

up on the general policy of the program. The

Department of Agricultural Extension in the Ministry

of Agriculture supervises technically the agricul-

tural divisions in the centers through its regional

departments or agricultural units. The Department

of Public Education, at the Ministry of Education

takes the charge of educational and cultural

171

activities of the centers through its regional
branches. Finally, the Preventive Health Depart-
ment, at the Ministry of Health is responsible for
the medical divisions. The Regional Health
Department, if it exists, or the Director of the
area hospital, supervises the work of the health
team in the centers.

5. The local councils formed in project areas are
composed of local leaders who work jointly with
the center workers in studying the local needs
and planning community development projects, as
well as participating in the execution and follow-
up of these projects.

6. Local committees affiliated to local councils are
concerned with the social, health, agricultural
and cultural aspects, in which citizens participate
according to their interests and abilities in
planning and operating the various local welfare

programs.

Program Resources

 

Human Resources

The staff of the Community Development Department,
in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is composed
of governmental officers or employees, the same as other

departments concerned with community development programs.

172

Some of the advisors and experts were imported, either
from the U.N. or by direct contract with the government.
At the center level, the staff of each one is organized
as follows:

1. The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs appointed
the director and his administrative staff, the
social workers, both male and female;

2. The Ministry of Health appointed the physician
general, the nurse, and the sanitarian:

3. The Ministry of Agriculture appointed the special-
ist and the agricultural workers;

4. The fundamental education workers were appointed

by the Ministry of Education.

Financial Resources

Every ministry has the responsibility of paying
the salaries of its workers because all of them are
governmental employees. Also, every ministry pays the
necessary expenses to finance their portion of the pro-
jects throughout the country. Material needed for the
project, including buildings for the centers are paid for
by the government.

Some of the Program
Achievements

 

 

The first center is about 15 years old and the
rest are about 13 and, during this period, some of the

goals and objectives have been achieved, such as:

173

Foundation of a number of local, social institu-
tions and organizations with which inhabitants
cooperation and through which they determine their
needs, discuss their problems, and endeavor to
find suitable ad hoc solutions by self-produced
efforts or through coordination with government
efforts after they had been heedless and entirely
dependent on the government to fulfill their
requirements and needs.

The assistance of Community Development Committee's
in diffusing cooPerative awareness in their loca-
tion to the extent that cooperative movement
reached a satisfactory matureness and in so much
that cooperative societies, whether agricultural,
consumer or professional (productive) had attained
an evident role in meeting inhabitants needs.
Organization of youth efforts through the opening
of sports clubs and formation of activity groups
to exploit their leisure time in feats that yield
benefits to their community.

The stimulation and enlivening of the woman's
role, and the endeavour of getting the best of her
in household work and of raising her participation
in social life activities. The inhabitants
response to this impulse was so strong that girls

were enrolled in regular girls schools, and ladies

174

attended special courses and classes provided for
them in the centers which manifested a great
attention for the preparing of woman and providing
her with household work training, such as cooking,
tailoring, health education, maternity and child
care.

The attraction of the inhabitants attention to
the dangers of illiteracy, and the appeal to them
to learn and attend illiteracy combat classes
opened by the Ministry of Education: inhabitants
reluctance was replaced by welcome and acceptance,
enhanced by propagating libraries, paper and cir—
culars on the side of the center.

Diffusion of theory and field agricultural gui-
dance to adopt modern agrarian methods and equip-
ment and to abandon old ones which farmers and
tillers used to stick to, and to introduce new
improved suitable agricultural products.

The provision of curative and protective medicine
to all inhabitants where the Ministry of Health
provided for medication along with protective work,
health guidance and motherhood and childhood care.
Positive consequences are clearly indicated by the
increasing number of clinics and dispensaries

visitors and by abandoning of old age methods of

175

medication, such as cautery, herbs and other

primitive ways.

8. The most prominent changes that have taken place
are represented by the acceptance of inhabitants
to participate with money and effort in imple-
menting national projects and enterprises, and by
their shouldering social responsibility towards
their local and national community.1
At this point, we have to recognize the fact of

unattained objectives of the program. If the above infor-
mation tends to give the positive side of the project
develOpment, of course, it is important to look at the
negative side too. In some areas the center was closed
because it failed to act and budget and personnel moved

to other locations. In another area an evaluation indi-
cated that the center did not perform more than 25 percent
of the required activities. Many kinds of difficulties
faced the whole program and its expansion.

Fifteen years have now elapsed since the estab-
lishment and 13 years since the last expansion, during
which no new centers were established. Reasons for this
are varied, one of which is that the enthusiasm of the
participating ministries did not continue as it started
during the rapid expansion of the program. This is in

addition to the lack of necessary technical staff for more

 

1Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Development
of Social Affairs in Saudi Arabia, pp. 5-6.

 

 

176

new centers, as well as some administrative and technical
difficulties. This period might be a help in consolidating
the program and discovering its shortcomings, a matter
which makes it possible for any future expansion to be
based on sound, practical basis, through a sufficient
period of actual functioning of the program. It is under-
standable, from the early establishment when the program
was adopted by the people and the government of the
country, that this project was not aimed at initiating
these centers as samples limited to only some parts of the
different areas of the Kingdom.

Community Development is a comprehensive reform
method which, if generalized, insures the development of
the society as a whole. Therefore, it is necessary to
expand this program-~after careful study of its existing
problems--for the following reasons:

1. The existence of some areas in the Kingdom which
need community development services.

2. The integration of the community development pro-
jects and the supplementation of their services

to new areas, and increasing the efficiency of

these through the community development action.

3. Coordinating the governmental services rendered

to the local communities.

4. The pressing demands of the people for establishing
community development projects in their respective

areas.

177

5. Utilizing the available manpower in some areas for
implementing voluntary and self-help projects for
the benefit of them and their communities . . . .

Community Deve10pment Approaches to
Development in the Southwest Region

 

 

Community Development Programs should work for the
development of the local community, mindful of the
obstacles posed by the traditional ways of village
life. The cohesion of a traditional community may
obstruct innovative approaches to agriculture and
parochial loyalties may hinder the movement toward the
establishment of larger co-operative bonds with geo-
graphical configurations such as the zone or region.
To utilize fully the geographical and other benefits
of a larger area consisting of a number of rural com—
munities and urban centers, it may be necessary to
make the region a unit of planning and implementation
rather than the small rural community.

It has to be clear that community development has
its own capacity and limitation which there will be the
risk if it goes beyond it and given an impossible task.
For an example, there is a suggestion that community
development--in the future--will need to get away from the
limitations of the village as the local point of develop-
ment. The primary objective of community development,
namely, to promote popular participation and involvement in
the development process. The village or the urban center
must be the local point for establishing the activities,
especially in the beginning of a new Community Deve10pment

Program. So, adopting a broader regional framework should

 

1United Nations, Participation in Development:
Emerging Trends in Community Development, p. 38.

 

 

178

be carefully studied and planned after establishing a
Community Development Program in the village, and the
urban center of the region to avoid the risk of creating
"a super-agency with unlimited responsibilities for doing
an infinitive number of jobs rather than the forms and the
process of community development."1 Community development
helps to reorganize the efforts of the local institutions
making self-help activities fully effective, and providing
the necessary channel of governmental service at all
levels, from the local to the national.
It aims to secure coordination at all levels for
combining the government efforts with those of the
people for the nations prosperity. It should not
duplicate other substantive efforts. It helps to
eliminate the departmental isolation and bureaucracy
and harnesses the enthusiasm and energy of the people
for making governmens services more readily available
at the local levels.
In the Southwest Region where the majority of the people
are working in agriculture and they lack the experience
and skills which are needed for the development and
improvement of their standard of living. Also, as it was
described in Chapter III, the region is facing several
problems, economic, social, health and education, compared
to the other regions of the Kingdom which causes the out-

migration of the young people to the central belt,

"Jedda, Riyadh and Dammam" where the opportunity for better

 

1Ibid., p. 39.

2Salah E1 Abd, An Approach to Integrated Rural
Development in Africa, p. 209.

179

jobs and higher income exists than in the Southwest Region
itself. Agriculture is the main natural resource in the
Region. Mineral resources had been discovered, but econ-
omically speaking, agriculture is providing most of the
income to the citizens of the Region. In the comprehensive
development plan for the Region, the community development
approach has to play an important role for the successful
implementation of the plan. The community development
center as a change agent, if it was carefully studied
before its establishment, can provide the linkage between
the change agency. "Government in this case, and the
client system, the member of the local community." Dr.
Everett M. Rogers suggested that there are seven roles
for the change agent. These

seven roles are isolated in the process by which a

change agent introduces an innovation to his clients:

(1) Develop need for change.

(2) Establishes a change relationship.

(3) Diagnoses the problem.

(4) Creates intent to change in the client.

(5) Translates intent into action.

(6) Stabilizes change and prevents difcontinuances.

(7) Achieves a terminal relationship.

The very concept of community development implies

a gradual process of evolution or an unfolding of abilities

guided by the technical and financial resources of the

government.

 

1Everett M. Rogers and F. Floyd Shoemaker,
Communication of Innovations (New York: The Free Press,
1971), PP. 229-230.

 

180

When the participation of people in their communities
is linked with the resources of government in such
ways will contribute to balanced social and economic
development, the communities can become effective
partners in achieving national objectives.
With this understanding and under ideal conditions, each
branch of the governmental services in the Southwest Region,
such as: agriculture, cooperatives, industry, housing
education, health and social welfare will be integrated
with the overall development needs of the Region commun-
ities. Sometimes, in practice these ideal conditions are
seldom realized as in the case of the community develop-
ment program in some parts of Saudi Arabia where losing
on the decreasing in the enthusiasm of the participants
ministries consider as the main set back for the program.
In re-evaluating the program, careful planning and full
commitment among the governmental departments participating
in the program must be done and met.
Community development demands the use of the knowledge
and skills of all the relevant national technical
services in such a fashion as to serve the ultimate
objective of a fuller and better life for individuals
within the family and community. The various activ-
ities which are component parts of a community devel-
opment program are usually carried on by governments
through direct measure, supporting measure, or overall
development measures, and require that they be coor-

dinated in territorial or national plans so that they
may fully support each other. ~

 

1United Nations, Community Development and Economic
Development (New York: U.N. Publications, 1963), p. 15.

2Ibid., p. 17.

181

So, in the case of the Southwest Region of Saudi Arabia,
and for the purpose of planning for governmental action
in the encouragement and guidance of self-help at the local
level, it is desirable to start with a thorough analysis
of rural conditions in the Region, so that realistic goals
can be established within the resources available. Then
the contributions of community development can be defined
and responsibility allocated to the appropriate departments
and ministries of the government. Most importantly is
that the government ensures that adequately trained per-
sonnel and workers will be available to carry on the edu-
cational and organizational processes associated with
community development in the Region. This includes, the
workers who operate indirect and continual contract with
communities in generalistic capacities, the teams of
technical specialists attached to the various ministries
and the higher levels of supervisory and other supporting
services. In the rural communities--such as the Southwest
Region--considerable reliance has been placed on village-
level workers as vehicles for change.
A paid government worker--as it is in Saudi Arabia--
appointed to work with the villagers over a period of
time working with them in face-to-face situations
may provide a far stronger stimulus for change than
occasional visits by outside technical proposal. A
multipurpose worker, by remaining in touch with vil-
lagers, helping them to accept new values and atti-
tudes, can help create conditions for the acceptance
and diffusion of technical assistance to be provided
by the competent specialized government department.

Local leaders, on the other hand, may be ineffective
in inducing change; their ability to act decisively

182

may be limited by ignorance of modern methods of

farming or by an unwillingness to alter exiiting

soc1al institutions and power relationship.
There is a growing criticism of the village-workers
approach. The argument centers on his background. In
most cases the village workers have been born and edu-
cated in a city or town--which in most instances make them
interested in the urban life more than being in rural
areas, and they probably think that their life in the
rural areas is just temporary. This influences their
ability to contribute to the village improvement. However,
some of them have been experienced in communities in
Saudi Arabia. They have been satisfied without pressure,
and willing to work in the rural areas. It would be
better that those who are chosen for the job do come
originally from a rural area because they will communicate
easily and be more effective.

Therefore, community development with the
availability of well trained teams, and well planned and
studied programs could prepare the local people to learn
how to help themselves and feel the need for change.

This will lead to their acceptance and participation in
the overall development programs. The workers in the
center must start with discovering and helping to

strengthen the local leadership in the community. According

 

1United Nations, Popular Participation in Develop-
ment: Emerging Trends in Community Development, p. 25.

 

183

to John Friedman in his book "Regional Development Policy,"

Community leadership is a vital element this process.
Social change comes to a head in the districts, cities,
rural towns, and villages of a country. The search

is frantic for those who are able to channel this
change and render it meaningful. The state cannot

be everywhere. It is hidden, remote, inaccessible.

It acts with imperfect knowledge of local detail and
in a manner largely disinterested in the fate of the
individual person. The state is a merchant in
statistical averages, in large and powerful social
abstractions, it cannot truly heed the uniqueness of

a local situation. Social and economic transformation
is rather a communal process, a grouping for oppor-
tunities in the intensities of central government
action. The choice is to adapt to outside changes,

to adapt successfully, or fail. And in makinglthis
choice, the role of local leadership is vital.

It is one of the several goals of the community develop-
ment program to encourage and develop the local leader-
ship as a mean for the successful implementation of the
development plan. Also, in various fields the community
development center--as change agent--can be effective and
helpful in the development of the Region. Below is an

instance.

The Economic Aspects

 

Developing the economic capabilities of local com—
munities through utilizing their abilities and resources
is one of the most significant principles upon which the

community development program is based.

 

1John Friedmann, Regional Development Policy
(Cambridge, Massachusetts: The M.I.T. Press, 1966), p. 65.

 

184

Balanced socio-economic development requires that
due consideration be given to the economic elements in
the community develOpment process. Therefore, attention
should be conducted to approaches and procedures that aim
at raising the family income such as the following.
Encouraging and Developing
Rural and Domestic Industries

The community development program has an obvious
role in convincing people to practice manual work through
various handicrafts, which the community used to consider
as being against the dignity of the people. For more
accomplishment, efforts should be devoted to rural indus-
tries in community development center areas. For an
example, pottery making, palm leaves manufacturing and
primary fishing equipment in the Southwest Region are
kinds of primitive rural industries and handicrafts which
if encouraged, developed, and improved can be one of the
main sources of the family income. However, markets or
local and regional exhibitions must be available.
Establishing Agriculture
Cooperative Societies

The agriculture sections in the community develop-
ment centers would give due attention to convince the
farmers to use fertilizers, improved seeds, promote agri-
culture practices, etc., through demonstration fields and

agricultural extension methods. The expected results for

185

this stimulation is the increase of people's demand for
these materials. The establishment of agricultural
societies in community development program areas and
supplying them with the needed materials at reasonable
prices will encourage the farmers to use it when they find
it easily available in these societies.
Development of a Livestock
Resource

The agricultural units in the center could pay
special attention to livestock and animal husbandry which
constitutes a significant ingredient of the economy in
the rural areas of the Southwest Region, is improved and
developed through free veterinarian services and encourage-
ment of the improved breeding of cows, sheep, and goats--
the most preferable animals in the Region--improvement in
the productivity of local breed of meat and wool animals
can be attained. Also, encouraging poultry breeding which
is considered as one of the cheapest projects to initiate
in the rural areas of the Region will be appropriate
because expenses are very low when the pullets are raised
in the house. These matters which will be carried out by
the community development workers, will result in adding
another source of income to the family and will supply

the family as well with more of its needs.

186

Social Aspects

 

The male and female social workers in the center
will have an important role with the rest of the team in

conducting the following.

Social Survey

They need to have the basic data and information
about the environment and the community they work with.
For example, a map of the area showing the locations of
various institutions, charts indicating population dis-
tribution, education ratio, and project achievement are
useful to planners and workers, the same as to the visi-
tors and the people of the community. Also, the informa-
tion collected should be used for diagnosis covering as
many aspects of community life as possible. This would
help together with the projection of existing trends to
make it possible to formulate alternative action proposals,
especially when it deals with some of the old customs and
traditions that exist in the Region, which sometimes pre-
vents some people from accepting some certain kinds of
work because of its social value from their point of view.
Outlining Projects Plans According
to Community Needs

These plans should be based on the results of
surveys and studies to meet the real needs of the people.

The workers of the community development center will

187

emphasize the role of local committees and councils in
planning projects for the development of their communities.
Supporting and Consolidating
Local Councils

In the Southwest Region, as in other rural areas
of Saudi Arabia, it is important that local councils
should be formed at village levels in the community devel-
opment center areas. A council on this level, the central
village, will be more effective in planning and executing
projects of relevance to the community's own interest and
benefit. In sub-centers, village level councils will be
of great help to the multipurpose worker whose activities
will depend largely on local organizations and on his
direct relations with community leaders. Councils on the
Province level, if it is formed to comprise the repre-
sentatives of village councils, would be responsible for
coordination and planning, and that will widen the base of
local leaders participating in social organization and
will allow for more collaboration and support which is
considered as a basis for any development plan for the

Region.

Education of Women

Women constitute half of the population. They are
the homemakers and the center of the family. They
are also the main custodians of the social, cultural,
and fundamental values of a society and permanent
social change is often been achieved through them. In

188

fact, full community development is not possible without

their understanding cooperation and effective partici-

pation.
In Saudi Arabia, in general, women's education and partici-
pation started late. In the Southwest Region in particular,
the formal education for girls, started later, but in the
rural areas of the Region, women were participating in the
agricultural field work all the time. Although education
of girls started late in the country its programs have been
expanded very rapidly. It was a great response from the
people to break an old tradition of keeping girls at home
or limiting their education to religious learning and
reading and writing. Through community development pro-
grams, it is expected that an important contribution will
be made by women to the economy of the family and of the
community through crafts and productive home enterprises
such as poultry keeping. In community development,
activities are planned in relation to local raw materials,
market conditions and the skills and leisure time of
women. Through the community development efforts arrange-
ments will be made for their training, for the supply of
raw materials, collecting the finished goods, sales
preferably through existing cooperatives and ensuring the
proceeds get back into the hands of the producers. The

extra income, however small, adds to the domestic budget,

 

1United Nations, Community Development and
National Development, p. 39.

 

 

189

contributes greatly to the economic independence of the
women and raises her status in society. Community devel-
opment centers can be usefully served as recreation centers
and meeting place for women, from which movements to
improve their social status may well emerge.

The role and participation of women must be encouraged
in the context of total community efforts, if the
contribution of women is to have its optimum impact.
There seems to be at least three specific reasons why
this should be so:

(a) In order to arouse initial interest and establish
a "social climate" of readiness to accept change, it
may be necessary to begin with, or undertake at the
same time, activities of interest to the village, but
not necessarily with a home economics, child care, or
other content of special interest to women.

(b) The changes desired in the sphere of activity of
women are often not within the ability of the women to
achieve by themselves, as they require the approval
and, in some cases, the physical labor of men.

(c) Changes in attitude and behavior by individual
women and families are more likely to take place, and
to be permanent, if they receive influential support
in the community.

In the Southwest Region where rural communities are con-
sidered very traditionalgthe staff of the community devel-
opment center, must study and plan carefully the beginning
of women's programs and activities to avoid any adverse
reaction by men of the community--especially the older men.
It was approved through experience in other rural com-
munities of the country, that the way and the methods of
approaching this sensitive matter has two edges. It was
intelligent and well studied before, and the outcome will

be to the benefit of the community and the families. If

 

lIbid., p. 41.

190

it was just a duplication it might lead to set back and
delay in the effort of the community development center.
So, the training and the orientation for the workers who
are selected for the communities of the Region is very

important to guarantee the success of the program.

Youth Rural Clubs

Another aspect of the social activities which can
be carried out by the community development center and has
its impact upon the social and economic situation of the
rural communities in the Region is the youth rural clubs.
These clubs, through its cultural, social, and sports
activities can present the contribution of young generation
in the community development efforts in different aspects.
For an example, youths can participate in summer camps,
repairing roads and playgrounds, agricultural projects,
health extension by cleaning the village streets, attending
group discussions and cultural competitions, and in com-
bating illiteracy. These clubs can play a remarkable
role in creating the feeling of responsibility and leader—
ship among the youth and in encouraging their contribution
in the development of their communities. In many develop-
ing countries, community development activities reserves
an important place for the problems of youth. This gives
recognition to the predominance of this age grouping in

the population of virtually all developing countries.

191

Attempts to induce social change are likely to yield
more effective and lasting results by involving youth
who are more receptive to innovation. As a group,
young people have special needs and problems and are
even more vulnerable to the effect of modernization.

Educational and Cultural
Aspects

Community education is needed for yet another
reason. People who have some basic values in common,
respect one another, and to some extent feel respon-
sible for each other's welfare, can usually achieve a
reasonably happy and satisfying community life to-
gether, even if they are poor and not very well edu-
cated. They feel that they belong to their community
and because they share this feeling of belonging they
find it easy and natural to work together for the
common--old or sick people and widows and orphans--
who are in special need of help. Life in such com-
munities gives people and underlying feeling of
security. Whatever happens, they know they will not
have to face it alone.

 

As mentioned in Chapter II, the relationship among members
of the Saudi society in general, and in the rural areas

in particular, is very closed as a result of the
"Gemeinshaft-like" relation among the members of a family.
They are very attached to one another and each feels
responsible for the family. The people of the Southwest
Region are no exception. The main educational problem in
the rural areas is the high rate of illiteracy. So, the
staff of a community development with the guidance and

cooperation of the adult education department in the

 

1United Nations, Popular Participation in Develop-
ment: Emerging Trends in Community Development, p. 212

2T. R. Batten, School and Community in the Tropics
(London: Oxford University Press, 1959), p. 9.

192

Ministry of Education can plan and carry out a program for
combating illiteracy in the community. The literacy
workers must have good qualifications and personalities
which enable them to be in a respected position when
dealing with the school directors and teachers in the
center area. Moreover, they could be entrusted with
social activities and act as social leaders in the schools
of the project area since the new development program
calls for a school in every village in the near future.
Also, through the cultural activities, more efforts would
be made to stimulate adults to join literacy classes,
possibly through incentives such as grant and rewards to
be offered to those who complete the course successfully.
In addition the cultural workers can set up parental
councils to participate in conducting the schools activ-

ities and sustaining its relationship with the community.

Health Aspects

 

The health division in a community development
center would give more consideration to preventive measures
through public health guidance to support corrective
measures. It could establish maternity and child welfare
units in the health divisions to realize more supervision
on delivery cases and organize training courses for village
midwives and acquaint them with the healthy methods of
delivery as well as providing them with the needed equip-

ment. The health visitors can participate with female

193

social workers in public health guidance and to supervise
the health conditions among the students.

It needs a good effort from the staff of a center
to train the people, especially in the semi-isolated com-
munities of the Region, to adopt healthy directions and
methods and to reduce their dependence upon the traditional
way of treatment and to make them accept the new inno-
vation without rejection or objections. The development
plan of the Region, implying the building and establish-
ment of new hospitals and clinics, without preparing the
people and convince them to leave their way of traditional
treatment and encouraging them to take preventive measures
at their homes, the health situation in the Region will not

improve.

Urban Community Development

 

Despite the strong rural-agricultural character
of most areas of the Southwest Region of Saudi Arabia,
still, as it was noted in Chapters II and III, the Region
has a number of municipalities and towns in the provinces
of Asir, Baha, Bisha, Jizan, Najran and South Mecca.
Saudi Arabia as a developing country, is facing the rapid
growth of cities and towns which has led to the extension
of community development techniques and programs in urban
areas. Among the cities with such programs in the world
are Addis Ababa, Cairo, Dacca, Delhi, Lusaka, Manila,

Montevideo and in Saudi Arabia, Rixadh, Mecca, Ratif,

194

Khamis Mushayt and Madina. There is a suggestion that
community development must use the same techniques in the
urban areas as in rural areas. It is true that community
development is rural-agricultural oriented, but situations
in the urban areas are different. The impersonal nature
of urban life, the bureaucratization of public services,
the organized distribution of social services through
established channels and the complex nature of urban life,
limits the scope of self-help and mutual aid programs
which are the significant characteristics of rural com-
munity development.

There is, therefore, a compelling need to examine

community development methods and programs for the

purpose of determining their suitability within an
urban environment. Generally, community development
strategists have tended to stress an emeliorative
approach to urban problems, stressing social objec-
tives, and improving environmental conditions.

Following are some of the main elements of this

strategy:

(1) To establish representative neighborhood councils
to achieve maximum popular participation and
support:

(2) To organize adult education programs;

(3) To promote vocational training courses and job
placement programs;

(4) To organize neighborhood and community health
centers;

(5) To promote the formation of youth clubs, women's
associations and civic improvement groups;

(6) To improve the immediate physical environment
by eliminating unsanitary conditions;

(7) To form organizations of a cooperative type
including consumer-producer and marketing copp-
eratives and savings and loans associations.

 

1United Nations, Popular Participation in Develop-
ment: Emerging Trends in Community Development, pp. 17-18.

195

In many cities of Saudi Arabia and other such as
"Singapore and Guayaquil"1 community centers have been
built to serve as the focal point of community activities.
Studies by the United Nations experts show some evidence
that the centers have not always attracted the numbers
and types of persons that the establishment of this
facility had hoped for. Perhaps, it depends upon the
location of the center. In Saudi Arabia some of these
centers which were built in the remote and less developed
section of the cities are functioning well and attracting
large numbers of that section of the city. In any case,
the urban community development has a potentially important
area which is self-help--or modified self-help housing.
Here community deve10pment could help ease the critical
urban housing shortage.

Self-help housing is a logical extension of the con-
cept of community improvement, where residents of a
neighborhood assists in maintaining a clean and
attractive environment. Self-help housing projects
have been successfully undertaken in Trinidad, Chile,
Guatemala, and Ghana.
Self-help housing can be successful when community groups
are committed to the purpose of the program, and when
enough of their members possess the requisite skills and
capacity for leadership.
Another necessary condition for the program's success
is assuring residents of title to the land. For

self-help housing to be successful, the municipal
government has to work in close cooperation with

 

1 2

Ibid., p. 18. Ibid.

196

community development workers. The government can
designate suitable sites for construction, resolve
tenure problems, conclude agreements with the com-
munity on the division of responsibility for the
installation and maintenance of public services and
utilities, and provide credit and technical assistance.
The commitment of the government to act in urban
community development was explicitly recognized in
Pakistan's first five-year plan.
Of course, the need for government support to provide a
more solid basis for citizen initiatives, invites con—
sideration of a somewhat different strategy for urban
community development than that in the rural areas.
Another aspect which would be given a considera-
tion is the relationship of traditional rural communities
to the process of urbanization and overall development.
Industrialization is not, just simply, an economic pro—
cess, but also brings about changes of a social nature.
"Most low-income countries realize that in the long run
they can ensure higher levels of income for their popu-
lation only through industrialization."2 It is true
that urbanization increases with industrialization, and
at the same time, attracting a great number of the rural
areas to immigrate to the urban areas, looking for better
jobs and higher income, as it is the case of the Southwest
Region. But, it should be realized that the flow of
people from countryside to the cities is a product of a

stagnant rural economy and lack of the social amenities

and opportunities afforded by the city. If the rural

 

1 2

Ibid. Ibid., pp. 14-16.

197

economy offered more of the opportunities and facilities
that attracted people to the cities and if it is realized
by the planners that the beginning of industrialization
must be accompanied by continuing efforts to increase
agricultural production to support the growing non-farm
population and provide raw materials for industry, it will
be a major challenge for community development to achieve
the objective of helping the rural areas and the member of
the communities to understand and realize the importance
of their role in the overall development.
Since an increase in agricultural productivity is not
purely a technical matter, but depends upon such
factors as changes in land, tenure, attitudes and
culture, as well as in the social structure of rural
communities (changes that community development
attempts to facilitate), there is in fact a com-
plimentary relationship between industrialization and
community development rather than any inherent incom-
patibility.l
Therefore, this relation which exists between the urban
and rural, gives the community development process an

important role to play in order to strengthen this relation

for the benefit of the two communities.

 

1Ibid., pp. 15-16.

CHAPTER VI

SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

The main purpose of this study was to investigate
the importance of community development as an element for
the successful implementation of the development program
for the Southwest Region in Saudi Arabia. In the previous
chapters, the current situation of the Region and its
proposed development programs have been presented. Also,
in Chapter V, the role of community development in the
overall development of the Region, was discussed. In
this chapter, an attempt will be made to summarize the
main issues and findings which would lead to several
recommendations and suggestions the writer feels are
necessary to pave the way for community development to play
its role in the develOpment of the Region. That will be
followed by a statement of conclusions which will deal
mainly with the overall concept of community development
and its application in Saudi Arabia in relation to the
national development plan of the Kingdom since the South-

west Region development is a part of that plan.

198

199

Summary of Findings

 

In the Southwestern Region of Saudi Arabia, the
main natural resources and the main economic activities
for most of the population of the Region is agriculture.
About 52 percent of the male laborers work in this
sector.1 But, still the productivity in agriculture is
low. The reason for that is the scarcity of water,
especially during the dry period. Up to 1973 little has
been done to develOp the water resources of the Region,
but research is underway, including the large-scale flood-
retention and water storage in the Wadis areas. Food
production also is not sufficient, so the farmers of the
Region have to import some of their basic nutritional
needs such as cereals. Therefore, the standard of living
among the agricultural population is low. The average
per capita income is around SR 100-150 per year. This
includes the value of the crops raised by the farmers for
their own consumption. This level of income is considered
as too low to live in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, most of
the agricultural workers were forced to find additional
earnings elsewhere. Some of them have other jobs in the
Region, and many have migrated to other regions in the
country, especially to the urban belt Jedda-Riyadh-Dammam.

In certain parts of the Region, such as Al Bahah and

 

1Total of the male laborers is estimated at 375,000
according to the Central Planning Organization of Saudi
Arabia.

200

Baljurshi provinces about 40-50 percent of the active male
farming population has migrated. In Tihama, also large
scale outmigration took place. Most of those workers
leave their families in the Region, and transfer most of
their income to them. It is roughly estimated that their
remittances cause the total disposable income for the
agricultural population to rise from SR 100-150 to some

SR 350-450 per capita per year. This better income and
better education for the younger generation outside the
Region is still encouraging more people to migrate. There
is no governmental restriction on migration.

Concerning education, great efforts have been
made to develop the educational system in the Region,
especially between the years 1967-72 when the number of
boys in elementary schools increased from 44,000 to 46,000,
in intermediate schools from 3,600 to 6,900, in secondary
schools from 168 to 737, and in teacher-training insti-
tutes from zero to 955. Despite the educational's pro-
gram efforts, the Region is still confronted with a con-
siderable backlog in educational services. In 1971-72
the Region which has 31 percent of the total population
of the Kingdom, had only 20 percent of the nation's boys
elementary school enrollment (boys in the age group of
6-12 years). The potential number of boys for elementary
education is estimated at 10 percent of the total popu-

lation, or 177,000 boys. The 1971-72 number of 64,000

201

implies that only 36 percent of the boys in the Southwest
Region received elementary school education. The compari—
son is even more striking for boy's intermediate and
secondary education where only 12 percent of the inter-
mediate schools, 5 percent of the secondary schools and

12 percent of the teacher training institutes in the
Kingdom are located in the Southwest Region. These figures
indicate the fairly recent development of the educational
system in the Region. As regards the number of girls
attending elementary schools in the Region in 1971-72,

they are 7229. It must be noted that only 8 percent of

all school girls between 6 and 12 years in Saudi Arabia
live in the Region. In the intermediate schools the number
is 370. None were in secondary schools at the same year.
There is no university or college in the Region yet.

The general health situation in the Region is far
from satisfactory. Poor drinking water, lack of hygiene,
malnutrition and diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria,
and trachoma and enteric disorders are common. During the
years from 1968—1972 the situation of the southern part
of Jizan province has aggravated considerably due to
excessive droughts, which increased malnutrition and thus
weakened the people's resistance to infections and dis-
eases. There is no doubt about the great efforts that
have been made by the Ministry of Health in the last five

years to improve health conditions in this long neglected

202

part of the Kingdom, but still, it has not been able to
catch up on the backlog. For instance, there is one

doctor to 8,800 people in the Region, whereas the current
national ratio is 1 to 4,000. The Region, containing some
31 percent of the total population of the Kingdom, has

only 8 percent of the country's hospital facilities. As
for clinics, this percentage varies between 15 and 20.

The total number of health points (approximately 130, run
by male nurses) is, however, commensurate with the national
average.

Many of the services provided under the branches
of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs do not yet
extend to the Region. Some are being developed. Social
welfare, including institutional care for juveniles, aged,
disabled, etc., has not yet been started on a significant
scale. There is an orphanage in Abha. Youth welfare has
just started in Abha, where, jointly with private persons,
summer camps for school pupils have been organized. In
the Region also two small sport clubs for practicing
soccer have been started. Community development, activ-
ities are restricted to Khamis Mushayt, where one of the
Kingdom's 16 community development centers is established.
‘While this center is mainly urban oriented, it is also
active in the surrounding rural areas where it gives
.advice and assistance in a wide range of social matters,

.including cooperative societies. There are three branches

203

of the labor office in the Region. One in Abha, one in
Najran and one in Jizan. There are 21 in the Kingdom.
These offices deal mainly with employment matters, but
their role in the labor market is reportedly of little
importance. Other matters such as enforcement of the
labor law, settlement of labor disputes and labor infor-
mation are becoming more important. The program for social
security leaves much to be desired. The main problem is
the inadequate number of offices. Although the Southwest
Region is large and houses a very dispersedly living
pOpulation, it has only 8 of the 32 offices of the Kingdom.
Another problem is the personnel difficulties, in number,
ability and the complicated administrative procedures and
regulations for the processing of applications and the
settlement of payments.

With reference to the administration situation in
the Region, it appeared that the geographical boundaries
of the parts of the Southwest Region distinguished by the
various ministries do not coincide. There are differences
in the delimitation of administrative areas between the
.Ministries of Agriculture and Water, Education, Health
and the Interior. As an example, part of Baha province
as defined by the Ministry of the Interior, comes under
the jurisdiction of the district of Taif as far as the
Ministry of Health is concerned: the Tihama part of the

Interior's province of Baha and the whole of the Qunfudhah

204

district are under the Health administration of Jedda.
The Ministry of Education tends to redefine the boundaries
of its educational districts and to bring them more in
line with those of the Ministry of the Interior. .
Concerning transportation and communications, the
roads in the Region are still in a poor condition which
causes some of the lack of progress in the development and
the improvement of the area. But, the situation is
expected to improve greatly within the next five years as
a result of the government road-construction program which
started a few years ago and includes a network of roads
of about 2050 km which is estimated to cost SR 2080
million. At the same time, the Ministry of Communi-
cation has allocated a SR 230 million for the construction
of about 700 km of feeder roads which are to connect vil-
lages with major road networks, especially around Jizan,
Abha, Al Baha and Najran. Sea transport into and from the
Region is considered as of minor importance. Jizan is the
only port of some significance, the ports of Al Lith and
Al Qunfudhah are not important. Airports are fairly well
distributed over the Region and the planned and ongoing
improvements of the airports in Jizan, Najran, Khamis
Mushayt and Bisha will make the air-transport situation
better. The postal services and telecommunications in the
Region are inadequate. The mail may take a few weeks to

arrive, mainly because of too low a frequency of haulage.

205

The Region has 22 high-frequency telegraph offices which
can serve only one call at a time. Telephone networks,
which are all manually operated, are found only in the
six provincial capitals and in Baljurshi and A1 Qunfudhah.

.Manufacturing and construction in the Region are
relatively undeveloped. The main constraints being, the
lack of raw materials and of cheap energy sources, the low
purchasing power of the local population and the isolated
position from those parts of Saudi Arabia where the pur-
chasing power is concentrated. In the Kingdom about 4
percent of the professional population is employed in
manufacturing establishments. In the Southwest Region it
is not more than 2.7 percent or approximately 10,000
persons. Construction is also a minor activity, in spite
of the ongoing road-building program. Cement consumption
in the Region is only 5 percent of the national consumption.
About 14,000 people work in this sector. The per capita
incomes in manufacturing and construction are some SR 500
per year.

Another important finding is the attitude of the
Region's population toward change. It was noticed that
the government services and welfare extension are appreci-
ated as well as taken for granted. This, it can be assumed,
is mainly due to certain paternalistic elements in the
government approach and to a lack of popular participation

in development. The self-initiated community effort is

41.-."' ..,‘

206

almost missing in the majority of the Region's communities.
So, most of the people feel it is a government obligation
without giving any attention to their role in the develop-
ment process. The felt need concept of community develop-
ment has to be practiced there to let the initiative for
change be expressed by the people in most communities of
the Region. Popular participation of the communities
member will lead to the real appreciation for any develop-

ment efforts and the change process will be more effective.

Recommendations

Since the agricultural is the sector with most
natural resources in the Region, and since the majority of
the population are engaged in this sector, efforts to
increase the individual income and to improve the standard
of living must be connected with agriculture.’ The govern-
ment must provide the infrastructure, the technical, and
the capital inputs in terms of subsidies and credits
through the agricultural bank which is a governmental
institution. The development of water resources must be
at the top of the‘list of priorities; since irrigation
water rather than agricultural land is the Region's scarcest
Production factor. Optimum development of water resources
necessitates the implementation of a number of major pro-
jeCtS, such as the construction of flood-retention struc--,

tures or dams in the main Wadis, or both. Drinking water

is sufficient in most parts of the Region except in the

207

higher-lying foothill areas and the Western Scarp Slope
where an urgent solution is needed by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Water.

In order to meet the conditions for an efficient
implementation of regional planning, the administrative
structure needs to be adjusted. An integrated development
planning is meaningful only if the geographic division
into administrative areas is uniform for the different
ministries. Integrated and comprehensive action programs
such as regional development planning and implementation
require a joint development administration, coordination
at various levels and consequently a uniform administrative
division.

The Southwest Region is in a period of transition
of people from a predominantly tribal system to territorial
and target-conscious groups, therefore it needs appropriate
guidance to preserve moral values and social stability.

So, it is highly recommended that the social science
departments in the local universities of Saudi Arabia
should carry out--with the cooperation of the Community
Development Department and related governmental agencies--
a basic and applied social research to obtain the necessary
information about the people's reaction to the development
programs and policies.

Community developmentis a comprehensive reform

method which, if generalized, could insure the development

208

of the society as a whole. Therefore, the expansion of
the current community develOpment program in Saudi Arabia
has become a necessity for the coordination of the
governmental services rendered to the local communities,
and for utilizing the available manpower in some areas

for implementing voluntary and self-help projects for the
benefit of them and their communities. Another reason,

is that it is evident that a close relationship between
community development and national planning is mutually
advantageous to both. Therefore, to achieve the utmost
results out of the community development program, inter-
relation between the national development programs and

the development of local communities in project areas is
recommended. Overall projects relevant to community
development when associated with and contributed to by
community development projects will enhance the achieve-
ments of both. Since the program was planned to be
nationwide and it has been functioning through 16 centers,
distributed in the different areas of the Kingdom (South-
'west Region has just one center out of those 16), and since
some of the goals and achievements of the program--so far--
has been reached, in several areas and communities having
community development centers, the demand for more centers
is increasing. It can be concluded that the Southwest
Region is one of the most needy areas for more community

development activities. Based upon the information

209

discussed in this study of the Region, and upon the geo-
graphical and administrative situation of the Region the
writer would suggest the establishment of six new centers
in the different provinces and districts of the Region.
Working with most communities in the areas and preparing
the people for the self-help and popular participation
concepts will increase their ability and acceptance for
change and development.

This recommendation for expanding the community
development program in the Southwest Region will meet with
the fact of one of the major problems facing the whole
program which is the lack of adequate numbers of Saudi
qualified personnel in the various levels or fields of
community development. The dependency on recruiting the
needed staff for running the community development pro-
jects from other Arab states will partially solve the
problem, but it is more preferable that community develop-
ment projects should be operated by local personnel. So,
any further expansion in the programs will depend first on
the availability of qualified manpower to be assigned in
the newly established centers. Expansion should go on
parallel with the availability of specialistsn/ Those
specialists could be provided by the following means:

a. The University of Riyadh has a college of Agri-
culture and there is a department of Sociology,

the University of King Abdul Aziz in Jedda has a

210

department of Social Science, and a new college
of Agriculture has recently been established at
King Faisal University in Dammam. These colleges
and departments should start a program or courses
within their curriculum for the training of com-
munity development specialists. This will reduce
gradually, the dependence upon recruiting from
outside, and will improve and encourage the
execution of the development programs.

In 1970, according to a joint agreement between
the government of Saudi Arabia and the United
Nations, the Center for Training and Applied
Research in Community Development was established.
The objective of this center is to train special-
ists in community development, particularly those
who are working in the existing community develop-
ment centers or which will be established in the
future; to conduct research in methods and tech-
niques needed for the development of local com-
munities and for encouraging popular participation
in development projects: and to identify the
factors which would lead to social and economic
change in these communities. The establishment
of this center with the technical participation
of the U.N. and the full support of the Saudi

government will help to a large extent in providing

211

the necessary technical staff for the existing
projects and those to be established. This can be
done through short, medium and long term training
courses for the graduate of the colleges and the
technical institutes, for senior level personnel,
field work staff, specialists and technicians as
well as local leaders in the different fields of
community development. This center must arrange

a special orientation course for those adminis-
trative who are working in various departments in
the ministries concerned with the program.
Establish an institute for training girls in
social work careers within the country instead of
sending a limited number abroad. The community
development program is facing a serious problem

in obtaining the needed number of career employees.
Because of the lack of movement of girls from one
region to another, due to family traditions
especially in the rural areas, it would be useful
to recommend the establishment of more than one
institute in the Kingdom. The Southwest Region is
a suitable area for having an institute like this
for training local girls in their areas to prepare
them for working in the community development

centers in their communities.

212

d. The same reasoning applies to the establishment
of an institute for female health visitors.
Maternity and child care is receiving increasing
attention of the state. There is no doubt that
the establishment of an institute for preparing
female health visitors to supervise the delivery
cases and provide health and nutrition guidance
is of vital need in the rural areas where deliver-
ing babies in a hospital is not common. This
institute, which can be attended by the graduates
of intermediate girls schools in the Region, will
open this field of work for them and make avail-
able the needed number of such workers for the
health divisions of the community development
centers and increase the efficiency of these
divisions.

As mentioned before, there is no university or
college in the Southwest Region. Since agriculture is the
main natural resource in the Region and the majority of
the population are engaged in this sector and also because
it is the only part of the Kingdom which has forests with
a potential forestry development and improvement, it is
very important to establish at least an agricultural
college in the Region. This college can be a branch of
the King Abdul Aziz University which is located in Jedda.

It is close to the Region and it does not have an

1. *4... . -‘nfl'. .. — ‘

213

agricultural college among its faculties. It will help in
providing higher educational services and facilities to
the young generation of the farmers in the Region. Among
its aims and objectives would be carrying out research in
the area. Therefore, it would be useful if the proposed
two agricultural research stations will belong scien-
tifically to this suggested college. At the time being,
until this college will be established, the College of
Agriculture at the University of Riyadh must be supervisor
of these two stations. There is no doubt that the univer-
sity is more capable than the Ministry of Agriculture in
carrying out and handling research matters. The Ministry
will benefit from the results of the cooperation with the
University by utilizing its research facilities and stu-
dents of the college--especially those in natural resources
departments, crop science, and forestry will find a good
environment for their training in the Southwest Region.

In all joint programs in which a number of minis-
tries and bodies are involved, coordination plays an
effective and vital role in the success of the program.
This being so, coordination in planning and implementation
has to be given due consideration of a national, regional,
and local level. It is highly recommended that coordina-
tion in planning should take place, especially in expanding
the program to areas where some services within the

community development interest has been initiated by one

214

or more of the participating ministries. Moreover,
although administrative responsibilities are entrusted
chiefly to the project director who is an official of the
Ministry of Social Affairs, the fact that the other
specialized personnel each follows the concerned ministry
technically has resulted in lack of coordination, adminis-
tration and supervision in some project areas. Since each
ministry is in charge of appointments, transfers, and pro-
motion of its personnel, conflict as to channels of
instructions and guidance is the unavoidable result. A
clear distinction between the technical and administrative
sphere of work is difficult to set. Thereby, the adminis-
trative role of the project director should be given more
emphasis and consideration. The participating ministries
should make it clear to their officials in the field and
in the regional departments the concept that, even these
officers are under the technical supervision of the
regional departments or branches, they are administratively
instructed by the project director. This is to avoid any
duplication or conflict in giving orders.

The National Community Development Committee com-
prises the representative of the four participating minis-
tries in the community development program, plus repre-
sentatives from the Central Planning Organization, and the
director general of the Technical Cooperation Administration.

This committee is responsible for the following duties:

215

a. Planning and executing the community development
policy and projects in the Kingdom,

b. Follow-up and evaluation of community development
projects,

c. Study difficulties facing community development
programs, give suitable solutions and carry out
necessary contacts with concerned agencies,

d. Coordinate the work between ministries and organi-
zations engaged in community development work and
lay down necessary foundations,

e. Submit budget proposals for development programs
and specify required funds from each contributing
organization before the beginning of the financial
year,

f. Supervise arrangements to train workers engaged
in different fields of community development,

9. Supervise studies and research work, and the
utilization of finding in community development
work,

h. Prepare periodical reports on community develop-
ment work and training conducted in its various
fields.1

Based upon the growing attention toward the role
of youth welfare which is lately recognized by the govern-
ment of Saudi Arabia, it is developing and improving the
department of youth welfare. This improvement comes as a
result of several studies and well planned investigations,
which lead to huge increases in the budget of this depart-
ment in the last three years. For instance, in 1972-73,
the budget of the Youth Welfare was around SR 2 million,
in the fiscal year 1974-75, it became SR 1033 million.
Because of the importance of the role of this department,
especially in the rural areas, it is suggested that a

representative or the general director of this department

 

1Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Center for
Trainingyand Applied Research in Community Development
(Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1973), p. 5.

 

 

216

become a member in the National Community Development
Committee.

Communication has its important role in the
development process. In the Southwest Region, the same
as in most parts of Saudi Arabia, the most effective infor-
mation media are radio and television. Therefore, it is
very important to establish an extension of medium wave
broadcasting and television coverage. This will make it
easier for all areas to be reached by Saudi radio stations
in Mecca, Jedda, and Riyadh. The importance of radio and
television coverage appears in its role of carrying infor-
mation and educational programs which must appeal to the
population of the Region and, therefore, be geared to their
day-to-day interests, needs and problems. The major sub-
jects of the program would include religion, literacy,
public health, agriculture, women's programs, education
including school radio, and information on development
projects of special interest, such as rural and community
development, cooperatives, people's participation, and
youth activities. Newspaper would have a less important
role compared to radio and television, at least in the

Region, during the next few years.

Conclusions

 

As Professor Raleigh Barlowe of Michigan State

University states in his presentation, Growth and

 

Development,

 

217

whatever the future brings, we have a definite chal-
lenge ahead in the area of community resource develop-
ment. Some of our problems will be easier to handle
if we have a growth and development-oriented economy.
Others appear more capable of solutions with the
assumptions of no-growth. As often happens, we will
probably find ourselves operating with conditions
that represent a compromise between these alternatives.
Balanced socio-economic development requires that due
attention be given to the economic aspects in the develop-
ment process. It requires, then, the strengthening of the
capacity of man "as a productive agent, investor, innovator
and developer." Increasing his capacity will enable him
to contribute effectively in the social development of his
community. This, of course, will be a task of the com-
munity develOpment planners to specify the goals which
the contribution of the members of the community will help
in bringing a change and improvement to their own community.
As was mentioned in Chapter I, the maintenance of a good
measure of balance in the distribution of benefits from
development programs has always been a concern in develop-
ing countries. Saudi Arabia is no exception.\.Measures to
insure equal participation are always difficult to design
and implement, especially when the Region is the focus--
community development programs, through their techniques

and processes, if designed according to realistic measures

and reliable information about the Southwest Region of

 

lRaleigh Barlowe, Growth and Development (East
Lansing: Department of Resource Development, Michigan
State University, 1975), p. 26. Mimeographed.

 

218

Saudi Arabia, and if the planners, having studied deeply
the situation of the Region--it will be a useful method in
helping insure the continuity of improvement in living

for the communities as a whole in a variety of ways, which
will help achieve the goal of the overall development pro-
grams designed by the government of Saudi Arabia for the
Region./1This study shows the important role of the com-
munity development approach to the growth and development
of the Region, which, hopefully, in the near future, will
move substantially in the direction of attaining the

stated objectives and goals.

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-~.

.- '- -__._-‘_....

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