International conference on agricultural growth, sustainable resource management, and poverty alleviation in the low rainfall areas of West Asia and North Africa

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 Mashreq region, and Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia from the Maghreb), and to seek solutions which reconcile economic growth with equity and environmental conservation -- the 3 E's of sustainable development. The conference was also presented with the findings of a three-year collaborative research project dealing with these issues and including scientists from the eight Mashreq and Maghreb (M&M) countries and two international agricultural research centers.