TCAS Working Document No. 57
February 2004

Agricultural Development Policies in the Near East: Situation, Issues, Institutional Requirements and Approaches

Proceedings
of the Joint FAO/NAPC Regional Workshop on Institution
Building for Agricultural Policies in the Near East

6 - 7 December 2003
Damascus, Syria

Table of Contents

A Regional Workshop on Institution Building for Agricultural Policies in the Near East was organized jointly by FAO and the Syrian National Agricultural Policy Center (NAPC) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform with the support of the Italian funded project GCP/SYR/006/ITA on 6 and 7 December 2003 in Damascus. Discussions focused on the need to share experiences and to develop an institutional capability for food and agricultural policies at the country level, identifying synergies and complementarities with regional and international cooperation endeavours. This document presents the outcome of the Workshop discussions and the papers prepared for it. These cover the current situation, issues and prospects of food and agricultural policies in the Near East Region; a review of the literature and of the experience with institutional requirements and approaches for policy analysis, including capacity development; and, lastly, the case of the NAPC is reported in detail, as a concrete illustration of institution building and capacity development. It is hoped that the issues raised and recommendations made will be followed up in the framework of the newly established Near East and North Africa Network for Agricultural Policies (NENARNAP).