This is the first edition of the State of Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW) and fills an important thematic gap for the Near East and North African (NENA) countries. It is also presenting objective and comprehensive information and analyses on the current state, trends and challenges facing two of the most important agricultural production factors: land and water.

This project aim to reduce and reverse forest degradation in the productive landscapes of the Venezuelan Andean region by creating a favorable environment for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use with emphasis on agroforestry systems.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Lebanon, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, concluded the training of facilitators for the Farmers Field Schools, which lasted eight consecutive days.

Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater. It makes up a large proportion of the water we use for agriculture. 70% of global groundwater withdrawals are used for agriculture, and around 30% of all water used for irrigation is groundwater. We must protect groundwater and use it sustainably, balancing the needs of people and the planet.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), and the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ) conducted a three-day training from 27 February to 1 March to improve the technique of Palestinian olive farmers to harvest water and to impart good agricultural practices

The main theme of the #EveryDropCounts awareness raising campaign, and the focus of the awareness workshop where more than 135 male and female farmers from different villages in Al-Minya Governorate participated.

Action Against Desertification is an initiative of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP) to restore drylands and degraded lands in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific to tackle the detrimental social, economic and environmental impact of land degradation and desertification.

In Burkina Faso and Niger, the climate crisis is a water crisis. A series of droughts have occurred since the 1970s with a general decline in rainfall. The region has experienced a 2°C rise in temperature since 1950. In Niger, the temperature will increase by 2.0°C to 4.6°C by 2080.

Competition for water resources between users will also increase. Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to changes in water access and availability. Therefore, a strengthened focus on water accounting and water governance for agriculture and food security is crucial to address water scarcity in a changing climate.

The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and FAO, in cooperation with Ministry of Water Resources in Libya, are launching the project “Monitoring, evaluation and rationalization of water use for the agriculture sector in Libya” following the approval on 15th March 2021 of a 830.000 Euro-grant by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI).