This document presents an overview of the water and agriculture situation in Egypt. It is a compilation of four background papers on farm-level water-management opportunities and challenges in the old lands, new lands, and reclaimed/salt-affected  lands of Egypt. In addition it considers the technical, institutional, and policy aspects of the...

This document contains the report of the Seventh Meeting of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) Working Group on Fisheries Management (WGFM), which was held in Kuwait City, the State of Kuwait, from 5 to 7 November 2013. The WGFM addressed and made decisions on matters concerning relevant follow-up to...

Agricultural mechanization is a crucial input to agricultural crop production. It is frequently very capital intensive, compared to other (usually annual) inputs and it has repercussions on the efficiency of all other inputs used in crop production, including seeds, fertilizer, water, and time/labour. It is also much more complex in...

This working paper summarizes the findings of the socioeconomic component of the research project Improved livelihoods of small-scale farmers in Iraq through integrated pest management and use of organic fertilizer, that was managed by ICARDA and funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Ministry of Agriculture...

The overall goal of the project is to enhance family food security for subsistence farmers, raise incomes and improve the living conditions and development participation of small households and village communities in the project area. The specific objectives of the project are to: i) empower communities, including women and the poor,...

The nomadic pastoralist system in Baft district in Kerman province is well known in Iran for producing cashmere from Raeini goats. However, there is little information on the production system. Interviews were carried out with 30 Siahjel nomad families of Raen origin in proximity of about 20 km to Baft...

The objective of the study was to investigate how farmers could sustain an economically viable agricultural production on salt affected areas of Al-Musayyeb area in Central Iraq. It aims to assess the impacts of salinity on crop productivity, resource use and profitability under different soil salinity levels. Earlier research could...

ICARDA is pleased to share the scaling out of some important research outcomes and their impacts in 2013. For example, the innovative adaptation of raised bed machines to small-scale farming – developed with farmers and private sector in Sharkia province in Egypt – delivers a 24% saving in irrigation water...

This synthesis report summarises the results of a dialogue on food security and water security. between policy makers, researchers, national leaders responsible for water and agriculture policy and members of the international development community at the International Conference on Policies for Water and Food Security in Dry Areas, held in...

The First Regional Symposium on Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black Sea was organized from 27 to 30 November 2013 by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) in partnership with the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) – Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (MAIB),...

The Regional Conference on food security and income generation through reduction of losses and waste in fisheries was held from 15 to 17 December 2013 at the Wissal Hotel, Nouakchott, Islamic Republic of Mauritania. It was jointly convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the...

This issue of Caravan presents some successes of the collaboration of scientists and other stakeholders from ICARDA and national partners, where participatory research with local communities and women’s groups in particular, has reaped a range of benefits through an integrated systems approach. These examples demonstrate a path forward for sustainably...

This report documents a process to encourage learning and sharing practical knowledge between Global Environmental Fund (GEF) recipients of national Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) development grants to address land degradation, climate change, biodiversity and international water issues in six countries. The goal of the process is to help disseminate...

Most of world’s rural population depend on livestock for their livelihood, especially in the Mediterranean, African and many Asian countries. To reduce poverty, fight hunger and ensure global food security, there is an urgent need to increase livestock production in sustainable ways. However, livestock production systems in those areas are...

L’agriculture et le rural se placent au centre des politiques publiques marocaines. A une époque où les pays choisissaient de fonder leur développement sur l'industrie pour ses effets multiplicateurs sur l'économie, le Maroc a décidé, de donner la priorité à l'agriculture et plus particulièrement à l’agriculture irriguée. Ce choix, mis...

This Working Paper reviews the current knowledge on feed legumes development in drylands of Iran and presents the results of studies done by the Iran’s Dryland Agricultural Research Institute (DARI) in different agro-climatic zones of the country. The study includes the existing technologies, and advocates policy, and institutional innovations that...

The project leader for the third phase of the project joined ICARDA in July 2012, and a project instigation meeting was conducted in Amman where the previous progress was reviewed, objectives discussed, and a comprehensive work plan developed. In the autumn of 2012, 29 zero-tillage (ZT) demonstrations were established in...

In line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) this study defines climate change as any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. The study report is based on case studies from Bangladesh (Sulaiman, 2010), Bolivia (Pafumi and Ulloa, 2010),...

The International Conference on Policies for Water and Food Security in Dry Areas was co-organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land reclamation and its Agricultural Research Center, ICARDA, FAO, IFAD and IRDC. The conference was held in Cairo on 24-26 June, 2013 and attended by some 200 policy...

This report presents examples, approaches and evidence on conservation agriculture and its potential for use in low-income countries. It is designed to help policy makers and development partners appreciate the issues and evaluate how conservation agriculture can contribute to rural development and food security goals, paving the way for its...