The Agriculture and Land and Water Use Commission (ALAWUC) was established as a merger of two previous regional commissions for the Near East: The Regional Commission on Agriculture/CoAg (RNEA-708); and The Regional Land and Water Use Commission / LWUC (RNEA-701), following the FAO Council Resolution No.13/97.

The merger was meant to further strengthen the multidisciplinary approach and to promote integrated and comprehensive agricultural and rural development programmes.

What We are Doing

This Commission aims to provide a forum through which Member Countries can exchange information and experience, and promote joint programmes at regional and sub-regional levels. It provides support to the FAO and other potential donors to identify issues, problems and future work programmes in the Region. Support includes technical co-operation to tackle problems related to:

• Land & water resources inventories for their sustainable utilization and management
• Land use planning
• Maintaining and updating regional databases on natural resources
• Promotion of programmes for food production, plant protection, animal health and livestock production
• Development of agricultural research systems, and efficient agricultural services to farmers.

Current Members

The present Membership is: Afghanistan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Libya, Cyprus, Mauritania, Egypt, Morocco, Iran, Oman, Iraq, Pakistan, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia.

Working Languages: English and Arabic
Rules of Procedure: General Rules of the Organization.
Pattern of Convening Sessions: Biennial, and held Back-to-Back with the Regional Conference for the Near East (NERC).