Iran is expanding dryland farming as a lingering drought is forcing the country to use its resources more prudently and cast off deep-seated wasteful ways.  Expansion of dryland farming might also help persuade legions of farmers, who rely on dwindling aquifers, not to abandon their vocations. Many of them have moved...

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), in the presence of the FAO Regional Manager of the Small Scale Family farming and Farmer Field Schools (FFS) Regional Coordinator for the Near East and North Africa, Dr Alfredo Impiglia, FAO Country Representative, Dr Salah El Hajj Hassan, Ministry...

Mediterranean grasslands (including rangelands, pastures, meadows, fodder crops) are important resources covering up to 48% of the whole region. Although these ecosystems are a key element in the production of high quality animal products and in the livelihoods of producers, they provide a range of ecosystem services besides forage production,...

Les changements climatiques se manifestant le plus à travers le cycle de l’eau, ces initiatives considèrent que l’eau constitue un connecteur : • l’eau connecte entre les politiques, les secteurs économiques, les sociétés, et devient aussi un outil de coopération et de construction de la confiance. Pour relever les défis...

The CIHEAM WATCH LETTER n°38 to be published in October 2016 on "Rural innovations and digital revolution in agriculture " wishes to provide a regional Mediterranean overview in terms of innovation in rural areas and the role of ICT in agriculture. This issue will be resolutely prospective and rich in...

"Failing to support Syria’s farmers now will give them no choice but to abandon their land, move to the cities and ultimately migrate to other countries.There is no peace without food security and there is no food security without peace.  No peace is sustainable without food security, which in turn...

Le Ministre de l’Agriculture et de la Pêche Maritime, Aziz Akhannouch, a dévoilé les premiers détails d’une stratégie de préservation des oasis. Cette stratégie a pour ambition de faire revivre des espaces sinistrés. Mais le soutien international est plus que nécessaire pour que la stratégie aboutisse. 

Comment répondre au défi qui se pose à notre agriculture : la gestion des sols agricoles, la préservation et l’optimisation de l’utilisation de l’eau, des fertilisants et des produits phytosanitaires,la réduction de l’empreinte environnementale du travail agricole, le confort et la sécurité des agriculteurs, la production d’une énergie renouvelable à...

Dans le cadre d’un projet de coopération entre la FAO et le ministère de l’agriculture, des ressources hydrauliques et de la pêche,la petite agriculture a fait l’objet de débats et travaux de groupes très productifs lors de la tenue de l’atelier de restitution des résultats terrain d’un travail de diagnostic...

Providing enough safe, nutritious food to a growing population is one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. Food and agricultural sectors are central to eradicating hunger and poverty, but current farming practices and climate change are putting pressure on our natural resources. No organization alone has the ability to solve these...

Research on water management to achieve higher productivity in irrigated agriculture has identified raised-bed systems as an important component of improved wheat production package. Through this farmers in Egypt have successfully achieved higher yields while ensuring savings in irrigation water. This technology was disseminated for sustainable agricultural intensification on a...

L'agriculture tunisienne, considérée jusque là comme un secteur refuge et défiscalisé par les agriculteurs et les investisseurs privés tunisiens, ne peut tenir, éventuellement, la concurrence prévue par la libéralisation des échanges des produits agricoles avec l'Europe qu'à plusieurs conditions. La première consiste pour ce secteur à accroître ses exportations à 8%...

West Asia and North Africa is the most water scarce region in the world. The mounting challenges with climate change is fast undermining the region’s ability to feed its growing population. The region is the most food-import dependent in the world. Farmers confront erratic rainfall, frequent droughts, increasing salinity, and...

Le projet porte sur les voies à explorer pour retrouver des équilibres entre les usages pour l’élevage et la capacité des végétations steppiques à se renouveler. La transformation des sociétés basées sur l’élevage avait été appelée la "Révolution silencieuse" du pastoralisme au Maghreb dès les années 1990. Elle s’expliquait par...

Despite its enormous contribution to food security and to rural economy, small-scale agriculture faces a number of intertwined constraints that are impeding its productivity, its profitability and its contribution to economic growth. These include a limited access to productive assets (land, water and capital), poor linkages to markets and the...

L’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’Alimentation et l’Agriculture (FAO) et l’Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) ont lancé le projet de « Conservation de la biodiversité et la gestion adaptative des systèmes ingénieux du patrimoine agricole au Maroc ». Un investissement de 772.000 dollars est attribué pour préserver la biodiversité des systèmes agricoles...

FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa concludes a two days’ regional consultation in Cairo to discuss the contribution of Livestock to Food Security in the region. The conference gathered 65 Senior Technical Officers representing Near East and North Africa (NENA) Countries, key livestock experts and scientists from...

The seventh meeting of the Working Group on Aquaculture (WGA) of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) was held in Doha, the State of Qatar, from 26 to 28 April 2016 and was attended by the representatives from six Member countries. The WGA reviewed the outcome and recommendations of the...

Since 1950s, Sudan has been intermittently devastated by civil wars and, in 2011, has split into two different nations, the Republic of Sudan (subject of the analysis) and the Republic of the South Sudan. Nowadays, almost half of the population of the Republic of Sudan is at or below the...

In the framework of the 33th FAO's Regional Conference for the Near East, this  discussion paper is dedicated to small-scale agriculture.  The majority of agricultural activities in the NENA region involves small-holders (small-scale farmers, pastoralists, forest keepers, fishers and aquaculture farmers) who produce the bulk of fresh food supply. The paper analyses the...