Simple biogas technology is changing the lives of farmers across Egypt by providing sustainable, cheap, clean energy and highly nutrient fertilizer for their crops.

Land degradation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is believed to be expanding at an alarming rate, accompanied by the lowest agriculture and livestock yields of any region in the world. While cereal production has increased marginally over the past two decades, more than 70 percent of this growth is due to...

La question des jeunes ruraux est peu étudiée et souvent peu prise en compte dans les politiques publiques en Méditerranée, malgré le rôle actif de cette catégorie sociale au sein des exploitations agricoles et des territoires ruraux. Nous interrogeons ce paradoxe dans le numéro thématique des Cahiers Agricultures consacré aux jeunes ruraux...

Tunisia's 3,000-year history of olive farming is under threat with warnings that production is at risk of halving by 2030 because of the extremes of climate change, from floods to droughts.

This short article reflects on the articles on rural youth in the Maghreb collected in this volume. It first offers some general remarks on the importance of a research and policy focus on the problem of generational succession in agriculture, then some comparative observations from recent research in Indonesia that...

Biskra est célèbre pour ses dattes qui représentent la principale production agricole. Au milieu des années 1980, des serres sont apparues en marge des oasis, ouvrant la voie à de nouvelles dynamiques agraires. Ces dynamiques sont portées par des arrangements entre différents acteurs qui mettent en commun leurs facteurs de...

INRA Morocco and OCP Foundation will oganise the first conference on Afro-Mediterranean soils, on the occasion of the International Year of Soils 2015. This conference focus on the threats and remedies needed for durable management of soil use and conservation. High quality research papers on applications, management and sustainable development...

The main purpose of the study, which was conducted by NSCE under the FAO’s Regional Initiative on Sustainable Small-Scale Agriculture (SSA) for Inclusive development, is to generate a deep understanding of the value chains with all actors involved and producers organizations and an action plan for gender mainstreaming and women’s...

Jordan is capable of moving away from all unsustainable, agricultural and food activities that are high water consumers and water inefficient. This will be possible if investments target profitable food chains that have made clear efforts to improve their water efficiency level and have the potential to further enhance the...

À l’échelle mondiale, un tiers des superficies irriguées pour l’agriculture est basé sur l’exploitation des ressources souterraines, grâce au développement fulgurant des puits et des forages. En sécurisant l’irrigation, l’accès à l’eau souterraine permet d’augmenter les rendements et les volumes de production. Il s’accompagne également d’un changement des assolements avec...

Les exploitations familiales des pays du Sud, au foncier cultivable souvent limité, doivent pouvoir entretenir la fertilité de leurs terres si elles veulent améliorer leur productivité. L’agriculture de conservation et le semis direct sans travail du sol constituent des pratiques pouvant répondre à cet enjeu. Mais on constate qu’elles sont...

The Netherlands and FAO are expanding their collaboration in the area of water management with a $7 million donation by the Dutch government to support the use of remote sensing technology in helping water-scarce countries in the Near East and Africa monitor and improve the way they use water for crop...

This Policy Brief has been issued in conjunction with and partly as a summary of "Towards effective national forest funds", Forestry Paper no. 174. It aims to give a quick overview of the mechanism of financing sustainable forest management projects through national forest funds (NFFs) and on how this financing...

L’histoire tunisienne a produit ce qui est perçu comme un fort dualisme entre petite et grande agriculture. Après avoir été longtemps marginalisée par des politiques agricoles productivistes, la petite agriculture est aujourd’hui encouragée, notamment suite à la révolution de 2011. Face à la paupérisation du monde rural, à l’exode et...

This brief describes the changing context within which public forestry administrations operate and outlines concrete steps they can take to adapt to this changing context and to strengthen their capacity to fulfil their mandates.

L’abondance de la production végétale et animalière enregistrée ces dernières années à Oran marque selon des spécialistes le passage à une agriculture moderne à la faveur du soutien de l’Etat à ce secteur stratégique.

Important social and agrarian changes are taking place on the agricultural plain of the Saïss in Morocco. Rural young men and women are key players in this process. In this article, we use the experiences, aspirations and dreams of rural young people in the Saïss to describe and discuss current...

L’agriculture se complexifie autour de différentes sphères de savoirs, avec l’introduction d’innovations techniques et sociales, la multiplication des programmes étatiques de soutien à l’agriculture et le développement de nouveaux marchés agricoles. Certains jeunes agriculteurs diplômés ont su voir que l’agriculture, dans sa complexification, était une opportunité d’insertion professionnelle et de...

The Iraq Salinity Project is a partnership between the Iraqi Government and a group of international research centers, lead by ICARDA, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas.  The research aims to better understand and provide options for reducing the negative effects of salinity on Iraqi agriculture....

Women play a critical role in every link of the value chain in small-scale fisheries, although their best-known roles are in processing and marketing of fish and other fishery products. This perception of the highly gender-segregated division of labour (men fishing / women processing) has shaped the generalized approach in...