Marj District

Marj exists because the Greek Pentapolis needed agricultural surplus. At the western foot of the Jabal Akhdar, where mountain runoff spreads across alluvial plains, ancient Barca (modern Marj) grew the grain that fed Cyrene's urban population. The plain still produces Libya's best cereal crops—wheat and barley in a country that imports most of its food.

The Greeks chose wisely. The Marj plain receives more rainfall than almost anywhere else in Libya, trapped by the Green Mountain's bulk. Underground aquifers supplement surface water. Italian colonists recognized the same advantages, settling thousands of farmers here in the 1930s and building infrastructure that the earthquake of 1963 would largely destroy.

That earthquake—magnitude 5.6—killed around 300 people and devastated the old city. Libya was still a monarchy then; the disaster catalyzed reconstruction that transformed Marj into a modern agricultural center. But history was not done shaking. The September 2023 Storm Daniel that destroyed Derna also flooded the Marj plain, destroying crops and demonstrating how climate volatility threatens even Libya's most reliable farmland.

Today, Marj district sits firmly in Haftar's eastern territory, its 185,000 residents oriented toward Benghazi rather than Tripoli. The farms continue producing, but young people still leave for cities. Traditional agriculture cannot compete with oil revenue for attention or investment.

By 2026, Marj represents Libya's agricultural potential and its neglect. The country that imports 80% of its food has a productive plain it barely cultivates to capacity. When oil revenue falters, this may be the land that matters—if anyone remembers how to farm it.