December 17, 2013 Bulletin No. 3 The NENA region has the less renewable water resources per capita per year in the world. The high dependence on grain imports and the competition for scarce water resources are not enough taken into consideration in policy formulation processes: enhance water productivity for better agriculture needs complex and integrated solutions. Negative trends in agricultural productivity must be reversed through the modernization agricultural techniques; the constant interaction between farmers and governments is crucial. Water users association should be actively involved at all stages of the decision making process and modern agricultural technologies should be made available to farmers. While water is necessary for energy generation, energy still represents 50% of water costs, it is therefore important to effectively reflect this linkage in policies planning processes. Considering that one liter of water is needed to produce 1 kcal, modernized agricultural techniques can also facilitate the introduction of more productive crops, ensuring food security while supporting poverty reduc- tion and economic growth. “Increasing water productivity is not a synonymous of water saving”, the applica- tion of more efficient agricultural models allows stakeholders to avoid food and water losses and waste. Increasing rainfall variability, prolonged drought, severe land degradation, and a rapidly-growing population are all contributing to the severe threats posed to the region’s food security. Strengthening institutions and improving technical capacity that facilitates improved forecasting and early warning systems can be the response to the increasingly severe environmental constraints faced by the NENA region. Governments should develop strategies that include technologies that are capable of mitigating the effects of drought and other negative impacts of climate change as well as innovative approaches to agricultural productivity that help to manage uncertainty and risk. Exploring the development potential of new water harvesting research initiatives is possible. However, scaling-up these innovative approaches and making them available to farmers across more expansive areas will depend on three crucial considerations: the right mix ‘Pay less, earn more’: modernization of techniques for a better agriculture water productivity. Rainfed agriculture: How do we attract the support of donors and investors? of appropriate policies, institutional support, and sustained investments. Long-term success and sustain- ability required an integrated approach to agricultural research for development, which rather than focusing on a single commodity or intervention, provided a package of interventions that considered entire production systems and reflected farmer realities. Public-private partnerships are crucial. Making a strong economic case and demonstrating the feasibility of specific project was crucial, it was widely agreed, but financing projects that were not currently economically- feasible but no less crucial for managing precious natural resources remained a challenge. Ensuring that water harvesting technologies become a much higher priority within policy dialogues is predicated on clear and concise communication: demonstrating the impacts of research on rural communities, and encouraging farmers to put pressure on governments to act in their interests.
FAO NELWD Bulletin No.3 - 17 Dec, 2013
Jun 08, 2015
FAO NELWD Bulletin No.3, Land and Water Days in Near East & North Africa, 15-18 December 2013, Amman, Jordan
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December 17, 2013Bulletin No. 3
The NENA region has the less renewable water resources per capita per year in the world. The high dependence on grain imports and the competition for scarce water resources are not enough taken into consideration in policy formulation processes: enhance water productivity for better agriculture needs complex and integrated solutions. Negative trends in agricultural productivity must be reversed through the modernization agricultural techniques; the constant interaction between farmers and governments is crucial. Water users association should be actively involved at all stages of the decision making process and modern agricultural technologies should be made available to farmers. While water is necessary for energy generation, energy still represents 50% of water costs, it is therefore important to e�ectively re�ect this linkage in policies planning processes.Considering that one liter of water is needed to produce 1 kcal, modernized agricultural techniques can also facilitate the introduction of more productive crops, ensuring food security while supporting poverty reduc-tion and economic growth. “Increasing water productivity is not a synonymous of water saving”, the applica-tion of more e�cient agricultural models allows stakeholders to avoid food and water losses and waste.
Increasing rainfall variability, prolonged drought, severe land degradation, and a rapidly-growing population are all contributing to the severe threats posed to the region’s food security. Strengthening institutions and improving technical capacity that facilitates improved forecasting and early warning systems can be the response to the increasingly severe environmental constraints faced by the NENA region. Governments should develop strategies that include technologies that are capable of mitigating the e�ects of drought and other negative impacts of climate change as well as innovative approaches to agricultural productivity that help to manage uncertainty and risk.Exploring the development potential of new water harvesting research initiatives is possible. However, scaling-up these innovative approaches and making them available to farmers across more expansive areas will depend on three crucial considerations: the right mix
‘Pay less, earn more’:modernization of techniques for a better agriculture water productivity.
Rainfed agriculture:How do we attract the support of donors and investors?
of appropriate policies, institutional support, and sustained investments. Long-term success and sustain-ability required an integrated approach to agricultural research for development, which rather than focusing on a single commodity or intervention, provided a package of interventions that considered entire production systems and re�ected farmer realities.Public-private partnerships are crucial. Making a strong economic case and demonstrating the feasibility of speci�c project was crucial, it was widely agreed, but �nancing projects that were not currently economically-feasible but no less crucial for managing precious natural resources remained a challenge. Ensuring that water harvesting technologies become a much higher priority within policy dialogues is predicated on clear and concise communication: demonstrating the impacts of research on rural communities, and encouraging farmers to put pressure on governments to act in their interests.
December 17, 2013Bulletin No. 3
If countries in the Near East and North Africa are to increase produc-tivity against a back-drop of climate change and the demands and pressures exerted by a growing population, they will need access to simple, adaptable technologies that can drive production in increas-ingly marginal environments.
A crucial need over the coming decades will be practices and technologies capable of conserving soil and e�ectively managing soil fertility across the MENA region’s wide expanses of marginal environments where farmers confront increasing rates of salinity, degradation, and deserti�cation. Given the region’s increasing water scarcity, these water sources, alongside the sustainable exploitation of groundwater, could become increasingly important if we are to successfully increase food production to feed a growing global population. Improved plant varieties capable of tolerating conditions in marginal environ-ments were also discussed. In this regard, the potential of non-conventional water sources – like saline, brack-ish, drainage, and treated wastewater- should be explored.E�orts to promote zero tillage, or conservation agriculture, should be promoted, focusing on cost-e�ective tools and technologies that can facilitate this sustainable farming practice. As conservation agriculture is not yet part of most country’s national agricultural agendas, discussions on translating researches into policy and development should be promoted.
1. A better dissemination of good practices and awareness raising e�orts to reach out farmersand users is key to make research and science available to bene�ciaries. A sense of ownership should be strengthened in agricultural policies in order to change users negative behaviors which have an a dverse impact on productivity. Research also need to be demand-driven, to better respond tocompetitive markets trends
2. Water can have a severe impact on soil erosion; integrated approaches and broader partnerships can ensure a sustainable land and water management. Sustainability need to be enriched through top-down approaches that focus on vulnerable groups.
Water tenure is the relationship, whether formally or customarily de�ned between people, as individual or groups, with respect to water resources. While lands rights are o�cially integrated in countries approaches and regulation, water tenure represents a rather new concept. Its sensitivity is evident: water tenure regulate the allocation of water resources among di�erent users. As di�erent models and systems of governance of these natural resources exist under national contexts, informalities are the rule. The governance of tenure is a crucial element to determine if and how people, communities and other stake-holders are able to acquire rights, and associated duties, to use and control water. In order to raise awareness on the implication of this issue, FAO developed voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, �sheries and forests in the context of national food security. Developed in a participatory way, this guidelines can support countries in applying governance strategies associated to natural resources.
How to build resiliencein agricultural systems
Research and land management: main highlights
What is water tenure?
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