This submission by the government of Egypt to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) combines the fourth and fifth periodic reports, covering the period 1994 to 1998. It highlights the important role women have played in the country's development processes…

This paper aims to describe the state of theart of both water harvesting (WH) andsupplemental irrigation (SI) techniques in the temperate and sub-tropical dry lands, especiallyin the countries of WANA that are characterized by a Mediterranean-type climate. In addition,three case studies of water…

Research project using participatory methods to improve the effectiveness of indigenous and modern soil and water conservation practices through a process of joint experimentation involving farmers, researchers, extension and NGO staff. Countries covered are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia…

Localization—the growing economic and political power of cities, provinces, and other sub-national entities—will be one of the most important new trends in the 21st century. Together with accelerating globalization of the world economy, localization could revolutionize prospects for human…

An international conference was held in Amman, Jordan in September 1997 to examine mounting problems of poverty and environmental degradation in the low rainfall areas (LRAs) of the eight Mashreq and Maghreb countries of West Asia and North Africa (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria from the…

Through a study of the sedentarization of the Beni Guil pastoral nomads of eastern Morocco,this paper examines how gender interacts with environmental and socio-economic change. This paper demonstrates how gendered resource exploitation (in particular,the collection of mushrooms,medicinal plants…

This paper discusses the centers of origin and diversity for bread wheat; sketches historical patterns in the sources and use of wheat genetic resources in modern plant breeding; identifies and compares indicators of genetic diversity used by social and biological scientists; reviews the…

Paper explores the relationships between the following concepts under the conditions of Middle Eastern semi-arid ecosystems. Paper states that there are two apparent contradictions in the title of this paper. First, grazing by domestic livestock is often considered to be hostile to nature…

The report focuses on: the statue of land degradation: types of degradation, their nature, severity and extent; the causes and consequences of land degradation; institutions to combat land degradation; proposals for strengthening efforts to combat land degradation. Countries covered are:…

This article looks at the changes which are taking place in the Syrian semi-nomadic bedouin flocks' feeding and migration patterns, and the historical reasons for these changes. Most of the discussion will focus on three steppe-based villages in northern Syria, where the International…

This paper reviews the process of agricultural policy reforms in Morocco in the 1980's, with particular emphasis on the cereals and sugar sub-sectors. Agricultural policy is reviewed in historical perspective, to show that the liberalisation process which was proposed in the framework of…