Djibouti - Agriculture

Official figures suggest that 75 percent of employment was in agriculture in 1991 and that the sector produced

GDP per Capita (US$)
Country	1975	1980	1985	1990	1998
Djibouti	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	742
United States	19,364	21,529	23,200	25,363	29,683
Egypt	516	731	890	971	1,146
Eritrea	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	175
SOURCE : United Nations. Human Development Report 2000; Trends in human development and per capita income.

Communications
Country	Telephones a	Telephones, Mobile/Cellular a	Radio Stations b	Radios a	TV Stations a	Televisions a	Internet Service Providers c	Internet Users c
Djibouti	8,000	203	AM 2; FM 2; shortwave 0	52,000	1 (1998)	28,000	1	1,000
United States	194 M	69.209 M (1998)	AM 4,762; FM 5,542; shortwave 18	575 M	1,500	219 M	7,800	148 M
Egypt	3,971,500 (1998)	380,000 (1999)	AM 42; FM 14; shortwave 3 (1999)	20.5 M	98 (1995)	7.7 M	50	300,000
Eritrea	23,578 (2000)	N/A	AM 2; FM 1; shortwave 2 (2000)	345,000	1 (2000)	1,000	4	500
a Data is for 1997 unless otherwise noted.
b Data is for 1998 unless otherwise noted.
c Data is for 2000 unless otherwise noted.
SOURCE : CIA World Factbook 2001 [Online].

3 percent of GDP in 1998. These figures are somewhat deceptive in that almost everyone over the age of 10 in the rural areas is considered to be involved in agricultural production, though many of them are not engaged in such work full time. However, this also indicates that incomes in agriculture are very much lower than in the industrial and the service sectors. Given the aridity of the area, barely 6,000 hectares (14,827 acres) can be farmed even with irrigation, though only 500 hectares (1,236 acres) are under permanent cultivation. Crop production is mostly limited to fruit and vegetables. Several market garden plots have been established and are provided with water by 50 wells (18 of which were provided by Saudi Arabia since independence), though many of these wells have fallen into disrepair.

Livestock has always been more important than farming in Djibouti, but animal husbandry is highly susceptible to droughts. Droughts in the 1970s and 1980s cost some of the nomads their entire herds. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates the number of animals in Djibouti at 200,000 cattle, 500,000 sheep, 500,000 goats, and 62,000 camels.

Djibouti has a short coastline, but there is an estimated fish catch of 7,000 to 9,000 metric tons per year. Most of the catch is caught by large-scale industrial trawlers, many of which are foreign owned. Only 500 metric tons per year are caught by traditional methods by approximately 140 small vessels. About two-thirds of the fish catch is exported, with Djiboutian fish consumption at 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds) per person per year. The fishing port is being upgraded with African Development Bank money to try to raise the catch.