2. Poor land-use planning, population growth and urbanization result in loss of agricultural land in most CWANA countries. Large-scale land reclamation projects have been mplemented in many countries to overcome the loss of agriculture land.
3. Most CWANA countries are witnessing land fragmentation and small landholdings, which curtail investment and mechanization. This leads to reduced viability of agriculture and unsound land management. This also exists in tenured land systems.
4. Inefficient infrastructure and marketing and poor postharvest management in CWANA lead to limited profitability and lack of competitiveness.
5. Women play a central role in agriculture in CWANA countries. Their role is not properly recognized; poor access to land tenure, unpaid family labor and gender issues are not high on national agendas.
6. Little cooperation between CWANA countries exists, although some success stories can be made use of: women’s empowerment in Tunisia, water-harvesting systems in alestine, agricultural input packages to small farmers in Egypt.
7. CWANA local genetic resources are disappearing fast, although this region is the origin of the world’s domesticated agriculture.

Agricultural knowledge, science and technology

1. In general, little is allocated to research in CWANA countries, less than 0.2% of the GNP instead of the ecommended 2%. Recently, some real progress has been made in promoting research and development, especially in Qatar and the Emirates.
2. Illiteracy is high within the farming community in CWANA, especially among women. This hinders technology adoption and advancement.
3. Most agricultural research does not reflect the real needs of farmers. However, in some countries, such as Morocco, new efforts have localized research and adapted it to meet the needs of stakeholders.
4. The gap between the results of national and international agricultural research and its usefulness to farmers comes from weak technology transfer, poor dissemination of information and ineffective extension services.
5. Brain drain is widespread in most CWANA countries. It is estimated that about 40% of migrating professionals to the developed countries come from CWANA countries. Lack of local opportunity, poor governance and conflicts drive the brain drain.
6. In most CWANA countries, civil institutions, including small farmer organizations and cooperatives in agriculture, are not promoting authentic agricultural development because of bureaucracy and centralization.
7. Community organizations started in developing household agricultural enterprises, community forests, water harvesting and environmental protection.
8. Most CWANA countries rank low in all good governance indices. Participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity and inclusiveness, effectiveness and efficiency, and accountability are essential for sustainable development in the region.

9. Many CWANA countries are deficient in local expertise in policy formulation, institutional development, research management and understanding of farming systems, knowledge systems and their dissemination.
10. Lack of regulation and enforcement results in overuse of pesticides, including banned ones, which pollutes water and creates health hazards.

1.1 Profile of CWANA
1.1.1 Overview
CWANA (Central and West Asia and North Africa) is complex and vast. In this report, CWANA has been divided into the following subregions: North Africa, Nile Valley and the Red Sea, Arabian Peninsula, West Asia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, since these countries share similar agroecological characteristics (Figure 1-1). Where necessary other subdivisions are discussed, for example, the Euphrates riparian system.

CWANA extends from the Atlantic Ocean, Mauritania and Morocco, in the west to Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan in the east and from Turkey and Kyrgyzstan in the north to Somalia and Yemen in the south. It falls between longitudes 17oW and 80oE and latitudes 43oN and 2oS. It comprises 32 countries and occupies about 20.9 million km2 or 15% of the world. Over half the world’s dryland population lives in CWANA (Figure 1-1).

CWANA includes some of the most inhospitable places on earth. It has a great part of the Sahara, the Empty Quarter of Arabia and the Usturit and Kyzilkum deserts. CWANA countries are drylands susceptible to desertification and mostly drought prone (UNEP, 1997). They have the fastest growing food deficits in the world and could face catastrophe if their remaining natural resources are not properly managed and conserved. Drought management and mitigation are needed in these countries (Karrar, 2002). In CWANA, governments have to make difficult tradeoffs between shortterm benefits and long-term solutions. Droughts always require immediate attention because they threaten human lives, but long-term solutions are necessary.

1.1.2 Ecosystems
1.1.2.1 Aridity zones
CWANA is characterized by low mean annual precipitation, high interannual variability and high potential evapotranspiration. In over 90% of the region annual rainfall is below 200 mm, but in a few areas rainfall can reach over 2000 mm. As precipitation decreases, annual rainfall variability increases.

Rainfall in CWANA is far from uniform. CWANA countries can be classified into four categories according to the average annual rainfall:

• Countries receiving more than 500 mm per year with 120 days of rain and with places surpassing 1500 mm: Kyrgyzstan (533 mm), Armenia (562 mm), Turkey (593 mm), Lebanon (661), Tajikistan (691 mm)
• Countries receiving 300 to 500 mm yearly with 60 to 100 days of rain: Afghanistan (327 mm), Morocco (346 mm), Sudan (416 mm), Azerbaijan (447 mm), Pakistan (494 mm)