Historically, water management has not been easy in the sub-region. Three climate interlinked factors have had a direct influence on it. The first is the aridity that affects all countries of the sub-region. It is impressing to think that about ninety percent of the area of the Maghrebine countries receive less than 100 mm rainfall per year that is poorly distributed. The second is the huge evaporation from open water reservoirs. For example, annual losses due to canal evaporation reach 2 cubic km in Egypt. Another factor is drought.

The area northwest of Mt Kenya is undergoing rapid land use changes caused by a population influx. Rapid population growth and subsequent pressure on land raise the problem of how to increase and sustain agricultural production while at the same time conserving the natural resources (montane forest with Olea africana and Juniperus procera as main species at 2900 m asl.). Deterioration in soil physical and chemical properties following deforestation for agriculture can adversely affect crop production, especially from soils on mountain slopes.

Looks at land ownership and the consequences of land degradation in Kenya.Contains interview with IDRC personnel Harmut Krugmann.

Coproductie RPD Staring Centrum

This chapter explores the possibilities and limits of law and institutions as instruments for generating changes in environmental behaviour. First, an overview of the different schools of thought on law and natural resources is presented. It appears that the overall trend with regard to land and common property resources is orientated towards: 1) a bottom-up/sociological approach to the law-making process, and 2) devolution of powers to local communities in a setting of comanagement.

This paper outlines FAO's past and present activities on combating desertification, with particular emphasis on the Near East Region, in an attempt to mobilise all the potential efforts towards the establishment of an adequate strategy to enable this particular part of the world to build efficient regional and national programmes to combat resource degradation, restore land productivity and achieve food security.