Water scarcity is a critical challenge in countries and regions with arid and semi-arid conditions and fast-growing water demands. This is mostly the case in all of the countries across the NENA Region, where food demand and food insecurity continue to grow, widening the water supply-demand gap in most countries. Furthermore, the anticipated impact of climate change in the NENA region is indicative towards an increased intensity of rainstorms and flashfloods, while the total amount of annual precipitation rates shows declining trends. During the last 20 years, interest has been renewed in RWH as one of the most effective climate adaptation strategies to cope with water scarcity, thus reducing the pressure on the limited fresh water resources and increasing rainfed crop productivity.

This webinar series on Rainwater Harvesting aims to provide an overview of RWH applications and illustrates, with country examples, the diversity of approaches. It will try to unlock the potential of rainwater harvesting applications in the NENA region by highlighting the role of rainwater management in overcoming the current challenges in achieving water security. It will also shed the light on the need for innovations in economics, social consensus and supportive laws and regulations to ensure a widespread uptake of RWH technologies in the NENA region.