Saharan fruit-growing, foggara style

The Saharan desert seems an unlikely place to find wetlands, let alone a
thriving fruit-growing business. But Algeria's Ouled Saïd has both.

Ouled Sa?d is a network of oases in southwestern Algeria — an isolated island
of green in a vast ocean of sand dunes. This human-made wetland covers an
area of 25,400 hectares, and is a centre of date production in northern
Africa. Over 100 varieties of date are grown here, serving as a food staple for
local 'oasiens'. The dates also contribute to the local economy, with three
varieties exported to Sudan.

Ouled Sa?d relies on an ingenious and ancient system to capture and
distribute groundwater. This system, called foggara, works through a complex
network of underground channels and storage chambers that allow water to
flow within the oases. The water is then brought to the surface and
distributed according to an ancestral social organization via a tool called the
kasria.

For the rest of the article, which I found very interesting, see:
http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2002/december/wetland.htm