This paper reviews the formal treatment of land rights in Afghanistan over the post-Bonn decade (2002 - 2012). The objective is to document the developments in the recent past to better understand present and possible future trends.

PIM support to work from ILRI and partners contributed to adoption of a woreda (district) participatory land use planning approach in Ethiopia and to expansion of the joint village land use planning approach in Tanzania, resulting in more secure tenure rights for pastoralists in rangeland areas.

This document is a synthesis of outcomes from a knowledge process that was a collaborative effort involving researchers, scientists, and technicians from Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen.

The project aims to improve the productivity of degraded rangelands through efficient utilization of limited rainfall. Nearly 48% of farmers in the Muhareb community own flocks, with an average flock size of about 159 head. About 52% of farmers in Um Al Naám own flocks, with an average of 125 head; about 63% of farmers in Muhareb community own a small flock (average 28 head), or a medium flock size (30%, average 293 head), or a large flock (7%, average 751 head. However, about 72% of farmers in Um Al Naám own a small flock, with an average flock size of 36 head.

The world is witnessing a period in its history when the increasing socio-political upheavals are taking the lives of thousands, and destroying the natural wealth of our planet. Poverty and food insecurity are two key forces driving this destruction. These ongoing problems compound those already being posed by an increasing shortage of water, scarcity of productive land, an expanding population, and the threat of global warming.

The year 2002 marked ICARDA's 25th anniversary, and coincided with several honors and awards for the center's excellence in research. Research on developing high-yielding kabuli chickpea varieties that thrive in cool, wet winter conditions earned the 2002 King Baudouin Award of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), jointly with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), which focuses on desi chickpea.

Training Material of a two days Training on Rangeland Governance designed for Tunisian Governmental Forest Officers

2013 has been a fruitful year for ICARDA marked by research accomplishments and a sense of gratitude. Our longstanding partner countries provided important support in making decentralization of the Center’s research a reality. This transition positions our research programs to more expressly target agroecosystem-based solutions, needed for wider impacts.

For ICARDA, 2012 has been a time of change and evolution. We have been busy tackling the many issues of dryland agriculture and global food production against a backdrop of focusing our efforts as a force for change for people living in the world's drylands and our areas of scientific expertise.

In 2007, ICARDA celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. The Center and its partners have worked together for three decades to improve the food security and livelihoods of the poor in dry and marginal areas. During this time, we have seen significant changes in the biophysical environment and in socio-economic circumstances. New farming technologies, new livelihood options, and better policies and institutions are speeding up agricultural development in the world's dry areas, and we are proud of the role we have played in this progress.

Poverty, food insecurity, natural resource degradation and climate change are global challenges; but they impact most severely on rural communities in dry areas. Addressing these challenges requires a combination of good science, integrated research-for-development approaches, and effective partnerships. As this report illustrates, all three elements are in place, resulting in new technologies and tangible benefits in more than 40 countries.

The year 2015 will be remembered for the waves of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region looking for a safer future in other parts of the world. While millions of people crossed into Europe, the international community looked for the roots causes of the migration, recognizing that food insecurity, unemployment, drought and environmental degradation all play a role in the uprising and coalescing of conflict.