Study of the development potential of agriculture in the Middle East - covers climate, natural resources, land utilization, water utilization, the agrarian structure, agricultural production and trade, the rural worker force, etc., includes sociological aspects and stresses the 'package' nature of development planning for social change and innovation. Maps, references and statistical tables.
Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.
The agriculture sector is key for economic and social development, but the sector’s potential has not received enough attention from policy makers and stakeholders in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Political transitions, instability, and the resulting refugee crisis have shifted focus away from other pressing development challenges, including slow progress in economic diversification, high unemployment, and persistent high food insecurity and rural poverty. Despite its small contribution to GDP, agriculture is strategic for sustainable development in the MENA countries. Agriculture, for example, is central to achieve food and water security in a region characterized as one of the most food insecure and water scarce in the world. The sector’s role in employment is also central, given the region’s high structural unemployment. However, it will not be possible for MENA countries to develop agriculture without a pathway to structural economic transformation. The region has already started the process of transformation but longstanding challenges remain. This report aims to examine the drivers, constraints, and social implications of agricultural development in MENA and to explore possible cornerstones for new and sustainable development strategies in the context of economic transformation. More specifically, the report provides answers to the following questions: • What development strategies and policies did governments in MENA put in place over the past three decades and how did they affect the performance of agriculture? • How did the structural characteristics of the MENA countries affect agricultural development and the economic transformation process in the region? • What did we learn from the past performance of agriculture? What should be the central elements guiding future agricultural policies? • What are elements of a new and sustainable development strategy in MENA countries? • What is the role of agriculture and agro-industries for development in MENA?
This book, first published in 1976 and in this second edition in 1988, combines an examination of the political, cultural and economic geography of the Middle East with a detailed study of the region’s landscape features, natural resources, environmental conditions and ecological evolution. The Middle East, with its extremes of climate and terrain, has long fascinated those interested in the fine balance between man and his environment, and now its economic and political importance in world affairs has brought the region to the attention of everybody.
This AQUASTAT report presents the most recent information available on water availability and its use in the 18 countries and territories in the Middle East region, with an emphasis on agricultural water use and management. It contains the relevant tables and maps, and a regional synopsis emphasizing the subregional characteristics of this large and diverse region. It also analyses the changes that have occurred since the first survey in 1997. Finally it gives a more detailed description of four transboundary river basins in the region, highlighting the different levels of cooperation and the agreements between countries located in the same river basin: the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin, the Kura-Araks River Basin, the Asi-Orontes River Basin and the Jordan River Basin.
The Middle East is an area of great importance globally, yet misperceptions abound. Events have made it a region of special interest to the West and so the search for understanding gains momentum. This publication is intended to clarify the region’s complex history and issues. In developing this project, the contributors’ set out to explore seven significant themes that are usually not found in other sources. While many books focus on political history and conflicts, this two-volume work deals specifically with culture, religion, women, economics, governance, and media, as well as the role that the region’s modern history has played in shaping its society and worldview.
A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.
In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries price subsidies are common, especially on food and fuels. However, these are neither well targeted nor cost effective as a social protection tool, often benefiting mainly the better off instead of the poor and vulnerable. This paper explores the challenges of replacing generalized price subsidies with more equitable social safety net instruments, including the short-term inflationary effects, and describes the features of successful subsidy reforms.
Subsistence production: a sign of market failure. Commercialization cannot be left to the market. Household effects of commercialization. Nutrition effects of commercialization. Policy action needed.
