The key issues that this volume addresses are innovations in organizational and institutional arrangements that have enabled the creation of local markets for sustainably farmed agricultural products or, rather, “institutional innovations”. Institutional innovations can be described as new rules and forms of interactions. They help redefine sustainable practices locally and...

The report analyses the determinants of demand on energy, water, and food in the Arab region, thgat  include socio-economic contexts, level of development, population growth, rate of urbanization, scarcity of water resources, the harsh climate conditions, and pricing policies. However, the region is truly heterogeneous in terms of socioeconomic contexts,...

The need for sustainable food consumption in Arab countries has emerged from the regional concern for food and nutrition security that requires special consideration on multiple levels and disciplines. In response to population growth and demand, the current Arab food system – characterized by intensive agricultural production as well as...

The video describes the activities of a project funded by the Benefit-sharing Fund in Iran and, in particular, the methodology used to bring together researchers and farmers in plant breeding.

The most important agricultural systems such as Pomegranate, Pistachio, and Saffron farming systems are irrigated by Qanat. The geographical regions around the Central Desert of Iran which is also one of the most traditional agricultural areas have been using the Qanat technology for providing water for agriculture and human consumption...

In the Near East and North Africa region, Iran has the second largest economy (after Saudi Arabia) and population (after Egypt). Iran ranks second in the world in natural gas reserves and third in oil reserves.1 The agriculture and rural sector share in the GDP has declined in the last...

As part of our larger strategy to adapt smallholders in drylands to climate change, ICARDA’s science has sharpened its focus on producing more with less in irrigated and agropastoral systems, and sustainably intensifying cereal-based rain-fed production systems through research platforms in Egypt, Ethiopia and Morocco.

The objective of this report is to review the current status, constraints and potential of   highlands in Iran, Morocco and Turkey and to define elements of a research strategy and ICARDA’s research priorities for sustainable agricultural development in the highlands of the Central and West Asia and North Africa...

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...

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...

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 RECOFI Workshop on Social and Economic Aspects of Fisheries in the RECOFI region was held in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain from 22 to 24 April 2012, following the agreement at the sixth session of the Regional Commission for Fisheries held in Rome from 10 to 12 May 2011. The...

This issue of Caravan describes the new program, and some of the research innovations it will build on. The issue begins with two ‘opinion pieces’ by scientists from partner organizations in the CRP. They share lessons learnt from past successes (and failures), and ideas that could be applied to dryland systems...

The report stresses progress in linking research innovations to results in farmers' fields in a number of areas. These research-for-development initiatives are testing technology and policy packages with farmers in their production situations. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa ICARDA leads the wheat component of the regional initiative on Support to...

Figs are originated from the southern region of Arabia and gradually developed into the Mediterranean region. Based on historical evidences figs are planted 4000 Bc in Egypt. Many different species are grown in Iran. Fars is one of the major producer of figs, about 75 percent of the total land...

Following a drought event, several interactive feedback relations will get involved, whose effects can be realized as drought impacts. That is the behaviour of the components of a socio-economic system in response to the new changes due to drought which will form the system total behaviour in terms of socioeconomic-natural...

During the last decades, droughts have become more frequent in the Mediterranean, West Asia and North African countries, and have had negative socio-economic impacts which are frequently linked to a high exploitation of available water resources. The Fourth Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change states that extreme...

Wheat, grown on more than 200 million hectares of land worldwide, is a source of food and livelihoods for over one billion people in developing countries. This important commodity has been greatly affected by recent soaring food prices. Wheat prices have doubled in the last year, largely as a result...

In their individual and joint efforts to address the problems of poverty, IFAD and its partner agencies in the NENA region are confronted by a large number of constraints, including:• The natural resource base in both quantity and quality, in particular, the prevalence ofdesert and semi-arid areas and the frequency...

In semi-arid regions, where rainfall is scanty, many water management systems were developed to provide irrigation water for agricultural through the centuries ago. In many part of Iran, the water requirements of most crops are not fully met by precipitation. Whereas, rural communities mostly subsist on farming and animal husbandry....