Thumbnail Image

Land and Water Days 2019 – Near East and North Africa

Innovation for Food and Water Security in the Near East and North Africa Region

Year of publication 2019

Place of publication Cairo, Egypt ;

Pages 12

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Booklet

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Five years have passed since the first Near East and North Africa (NENA) Land and Water Days in Amman, Jordan, 15-18 December 2013. At this event, FAO and its partners established the Water Scarcity Regional Initiative along with its Regional Collaborative Strategy and Partnership. The initiative   was endorsed by the ministers of agriculture at the 32nd session of FAO regional conference for the Near East in February 2014 in Rome and by the Arab Ministerial Water Council of the League of Arab States in May 2015. Positive developments include the prioritization of sustainable water management; dialogue around water issues and policies; innovative investments; and implementation of many new projects throughout the region. The adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) created a comprehensive framework for countries, donors and international organizations to prioritize water management and sustainable food security in the region. At the same time, many challenges facing the NENA region have intensified. Conflicts and protracted crises, and their spillover, are taking a heavy toll on people’s lives; on food security and nutrition; on water and agriculture infrastructure; all of which are delaying or slowing the implementation of development strategies and plans. Climate change and droughts are dramatically impacting rural populations, further compounding the impacts of conflicts and leading to migration and refugee movements. In this context the NENA Land and Water Days are being convened in Cairo during 31 March - 4 April 2019, to review the progress made in addressing water scarcity in the region, foster exchange of knowledge and experience among countries and partners, and chart the way forward; taking into account lessons, new challenges and opportunities for sustainable development. The event will focus on the NENA region but will link to the global experiences through the participation of countries and experts from other regions (Asia, Africa and Latin America) for insights and knowledge sharing.

Language English

Also available in:

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Thumbnail Image
    Document
    Near East and North Africa Land and Water Days
    Amman, Jordan, 15-18 December, 2013
    2013
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    For many centuries, the people of the Near East and North Africa (NENA) Region were able to cope, and even flourish, under conditions of water scarcity. However, with decades of relentless high rate of population growth, rapid urbanization, and uncharacteristically excessive consumption patterns, the region is now facing unprecedented levels of pressure on its natural resources. Adding the looming threat of climate change to these pressures, the achievement of effective management of land and wa ter that ensures efficient utilization of the resources and leads to sustainable food security, has become a necessity. Though the region has accumulated a wealth of knowledge on management systems that can support its pursue of sound and sustainable land and water productivity, unfortunately, many of the successful experiences are limited in scope and space, or not well documented or disseminated. This situation has resulted in a significant knowledge gap. The Near East and North Africa Land an d Water Days (NENA-LWD), which are in line with the 2013 UN-International year for water cooperation and are closely linked to FAO Initiative on Water Scarcity in the Near East (2013), had the aim of filling, the above mentioned, land and water management knowledge gap. These days, which took place from 15-18 December 2013 at Amman, Jordan, built on the FAO global Land and Water Days held in May 2012 in Rome in cooperation with IFAD and WFP. Twelve technical sessions that addressed critical issu es related to Land and Water management were conducted during the NENA LWD. The sessions, which had around fifty keynote speakers and high caliber Experts, were designed to allow for long and detailed discussions around carefully selected case studies from around the Region. The main aim is to identify the success and failure of the applied approaches, tools, or methods and discuss the potential of up-scaling the success stories. The output of these sessions will feed into the Regional Collabora tive Strategy. Numerous recommendations came out of these sessions; the following are some of the most frequent: pilot applications; full and comprehensive involvement of stakholders; harmonizing policies and creating synergies among various initiatives; need for Regional Strategy for the utilization of shared aquifers; importance of conflict resolution mechanism among stakeholders, establishment of incentive systems for adoption of research findings.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Water scarcity. Land and Water Days 2019 - Near East and North Africa
    Background Paper: Executive Summary
    2019
    Also available in:
    Solving water scarcity will require a multi-dimensional approach including assistance from decision-support tools to help national managers to find the right mix of water, food and energy options to best fit country situations. Once socially acceptable paths that enhance country comparative advantages are outlined and communicated, institutional capacity, policies and financing are needed to carry plans forward to create the desired outcomes and impacts. Opportunities for horizontal expansion of the irrigated areas are limited in most regions. The focus has shifted to improving system performance and agricultural water productivity on existing irrigation schemes. The design and mode of operation of some irrigation schemes is outdated. Traditional service delivery is no longer appropriate where farmers are looking to have irrigation water on demand. New gains must come through participation with communities and water user association who are increasingly demanding that their inputs be taken into consideration.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (stand-alone)
    The State of Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture in the Near East and North Africa region
    Summary Report
    2022
    Also available in:
    The State of Land and Water Resources (SOLAW) in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region is part of a FAO flagship series launched in 2011. Being one of the most land and water scarce region in the world, the preservation of land and water resources is of critical importance to ensure food security and address the increased food demand. The publication aims at providing policy makers, institutions and other stakeholders a comprehensive overview of the current situation for land and water and the effect of climate change and urbanization on food production facilitating informed decision-making. The report provides the latest land and water resource statistics for the region and outlines important challenges that NENA is facing in the lead up to 2030 and beyond. It also presents positive initiatives from the region and a range of options available to help authorities respond to the issues of land and water resources.
Show more

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.