ABSTRACT
Agriculture in the Sahara is necessarily confined to the oases and in scale is akin to gardening. The plots are usually small and rectangular, being no more than 10 feet long and bounded by small earth ramparts permitting a flooding every few days. Two crops a year are possible; the principal ones are barley, millet, beans, wheat, vegetables and, in addition to the date-palm, citrus fruit, peaches and apricots are usual. Permanent settlement in the central Sahara consists of hamlets of stone or hardened-clay huts situated at the debouchments of the principal oueds around the upland periphery. The successful exploitation of underground wealth in the Algerian and Libyan Sahara since World War II is having far-reaching effects on traditional nomadic and oasis economies. Success has attended searches for water, oil, natural gas and minerals. Transport across the great desert has always been difficult but nevertheless possible, thanks to the camel.
