9. If persistent needs for national agricultural technology are to be effectively met, NARS in the CWANA region should be structurally empowered and their activities supported by regional and international resources.   AKST development in CWANA suffers from lack of an enabling environment. The educational and research infrastructure is poor; policies and institutions place only limited emphasis on domestic and regional efforts toward developing AKST. This situation requires a radical policy shift to favor strengthening educational infrastructure and to adopt a policy framework that provides human capacities and offers incentives for AKST development.

10. Policies that promote agrobiodiversity and use of traditional knowledge lead to sustainable development of agriculture, despite the intensification of farming systems.   Green Revolution practices and intensification of farming systems with the introduction of new varieties of crops, livestock, mechanization and aggressive use of chemicals cause us to lose traditional knowledge and biodiversity. Formulating new agricultural policy to protect and enhance agrobiodiversity has to become an important part of the agroenvironmental objectives and actions for many CWANA countries. Developing these policies will be in response to growing public concern over the increasing pressure on natural and existing ecosystems brought by agricultural activity. Actually, government policies toward biodiversity should balance the tradeoff between benefiting the economy and conserving biodiversity.

11. Future AKST in the CWANA region is to be visualized depend on substantial public and private investments in agricultural research and extas transitional, to benefit from local knowledge and incorporate and transform local agricultural practices into scientific ones.   Options in that line include recording, preserving and researching local knowledge, devising new AKST models to take advantage of local agricultural practices and considering traditional knowledge as a base of every international attempt for modernization in a CWANA country.

12. The CWANA region continues to lack appropriate technologies that could help effectively address key concerns like desertification, low productivity and loss of biodiversity.   One reason for this is that the available technologies are not necessarily appropriate, as they are not based on indigenously developed or documented AKST. This problem can be addressed by national, regional and international initiatives aimed at strengthening research, technology development and extension capacities within the CWANA region.

13. Higher, stable and continuous economic growth substantially encourages farmers to make better use of AKST.   In CWANA, the per capita consumption of food is low, especially of meat and milk products. Higher demand for agricultural products would mean more cash flowing in to the farmers, who in turn would most probably seek out and use appropriate AKST.

14. The CWANA region continues to lack appropriate technologies that could help effectively address key concerns like desertification, low productivity and loss of biodiversity.   One reason for this is that the available technologies are not necessarily appropriate, as they are not based on indigenously developed or documented AKST. This problem can be addressed by national, regional and international initiatives aimed at strengthening research, technology development and extension capacities within the CWANA region.

15. scale farming employing those sectors of the population that have limited opportunities of movement and choice, mainly women. These sectors will have to rely on agriculture to support their livelihoods and at the same time face harsh environmental conditions due to climate change and difficult market access because of global trade. Technological innovations in agriculture, which are not designed or applied to meet the needs and conditions of women, carry the risk of further increasing the burden on women as providers for their families, and may impair women’s productivity. The negative consequences of these trends can be contained if institutions adjust to the changing circumstances in rural areas. This means, for example, that women’s role as farmers is acknowledged together with their role as food providers and, often, as heads of household. If their rights are redefined accordingly, their access to resources will be facilitated, their agricultural work supported and their livelihoods and lives of their families enhanced. Also, policies aimed to build capacity may be put in place so that rural livelihoods can depend on diversified sources of income, thus reducing the vulnerability of disadvantaged sectors. If AKST addresses the needs and priorities of these new farmers and adopts a more participatory model of development, it may boost the role of agriculture and sustain the livelihoods of the sectors that increasingly rely on it.

4.1 Implications of Future Challenges for AKST-related Policies

4.1.1 Market and trade issues

Markets and trade are important factors in determining the access to and adoption of AKST. Rising demand for agricultural products and more competitive markets are likely to result in higher demand for AKST. For example, protectionist policies would not encourage the adoption of certified seeds, while liberalization and appropriate marketing policies may be accompanied by the adoption of more productive technologies, higher efficiency and economic growth. We are interested to find the best ways and options to develop AKST based on our assessment of market and trade developments in the region.

4.1.1.1 Trade arrangements

Although trade liberalization globally represents the goal of multilateral trade negotiation under the auspice of the World Trade Organization (WTO), most WTO members have engaged in regional or bilateral agreements due to the relative ease of forming regional blocs. The CWANA region is not an exception. It has seen emerge many regional and bilateral trade agreements among neighboring countries. For instance Egypt has concluded about 40 agreements (ESCWA, 1998). In 1981 the gulf countries established the Gulf Cooperation Council to enhance intraregional trade and cooperation. In February 1989 the Arab Maghreb Union was established in Marrakech. The Customs Union between the European Union (EU) and Turkey is a unique event in the region; it has increased trade volume between the two partners and has been particularly profitable to Turkey. These arrangements are to be fostered to facilitate AKST adoption in the region.

WTO trade negotiations, however, also create threats for developing countries and for the CWANA countries in