FAO Regional Conference for the Near EastThirty-Second Session24 – 28 February 2014, Rome, Italy Regional Water Scarcity Initiative: Towards a Collaborative Strategy Agenda Item 10: NERC/14/5 © www.fao.org

1. FAO Regional Conference for the Near
East
Thirty-Second Session
24 – 28 February 2014, Rome, Italy
Regional Water Scarcity Initiative
Towards a Collaborative Strategy
Agenda Item 10: NERC/14/5
NERC-32
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

2. The context
Per capita fresh water availability = 1/6 of world average
 has decreased by 2/3 over the last 40 years
 it is expected to decrease of further 50% by 2050
t
yp
Eg
Major drivers
 population
Iran
growth
(+ consumption
pattern)
 climate
NERC-32
change
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region
an
ud
S
q
Ira
Algeria
Morocco

3. Climate change is expected to accentuate the already
severe shortage of water availability
 rainfall reduction (and unpredictability)
 increasing the crop water requirements
runoff
NERC-32
(Milly et al., 2005)
≈ year 2050
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

4. Over 60% of water resources in the Region flows from outside
national and regional boundaries
Groundwater has been the basis for the
rapid growth in the Arabian Peninsula,
but now Countries are facing excessive
groundwater depletion
Competition for water between
all sectors is accelerating
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Degradation of water quality
is mounting
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

5. The Near East and North Africa, already one of the
most water scarce Regions in the world, may be facing
over the coming years the most severe intensification
of water scarcity in history
Water is the binding constraint for Agriculture, as this
sector uses already > 85% of available fresh water
resources in the region
Therefore, Agriculture in all NENA will be the sector
suffering most from water scarcity, with major
consequences for food security and the rural economy
NERC-32
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

6. The challenges ahead
Agriculture, an important socio-economic sector in several
countries of the region, will be required to:
 substantially increase sustainably its overall ‘productivity’
(food, income, employment, etc.)
 reduce its water share
The food crisis of 2008, with soaring of food prices and
subsequent volatility, has impacted several countries in the
NENA Region as most of them import a large share of their
food needs, particularly cereals
Evidently, Countries in NENA are reconsidering in perspective
their food and agricultural policies with much closer scrutiny on
National production capacity to mitigate their vulnerability to
food import
NERC-32
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

7. The implications for further pressure on water resources are
significant
The revision of food and agricultural policies needs to find an
optimal balance between internal production, trade, storage and
social protection measures, vis-à-vis the optimal balance
between ‘actual’ and ‘virtual’ water budget
Furthermore, policy revisions will necessarily be cross-sectoral
due to the multiple-function and multiple-use of water, with
allocation strategies that need to ensure their alignment with the
imperative of making the best use of each single drop of water
In short, further improvement in sustainable agricultural water
management is not a choice, …it is an imperative
NERC-32
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

8. The response
…much has been achieved in recent years
NENA countries have in fact progressed on many fronts:
 developed a higher proportion of their available water
resources
 have constructed more water storage per capita than any
other region in the world
 improved agricultural water management to raise
productivity
 improved markets
 applied principles of IWRM
 progressive transition from supply to demand
management
NERC-32
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

9.  NENA is a global leader in pressurized irrigation
 progressive decentralization of irrigation agencies
towards WUA and farmers organization
…and all this has had a few positive results
 Agriculture growth over the last 25 years averaged
≈ 2% per year
 more farmers brought into the market
 household-level food security strengthened
 dependence on subsistence crops reduced
 much agriculture is market-oriented and commercialized
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For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

10. …but much more remains to be done
 there still is significantly low agricultural water productivity
(e.g., rainfed farming) and efficiency (e.g., irrigated agriculture)
 although the quality of planning and public investment has
improved, capital-intensive, supply-driven investments,
featuring a ‘top down’ engineering approach is still dominant
 collective irrigation systems require extensive modernization
 Water Users Associations in NENA are weaker than any other
Region
 non-conventional water resources still mostly untapped
 groundwater resources management is lacking effective
governance
NERC-32
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

11.  Climate Change responses are not yet properly incorporated
in the water resources management
 water valuation and allocation criteria are still limited
 efficiency along the food value chain is low (food waste
and losses)
 a regional and national vision for the future and related
scenario analysis are missing
 mounting water scarcity in the Region requires a
comprehensive reform and innovative approaches to further
improvement in sustainable agricultural water management
NERC-32
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

12. …summarizing
NENA countries have recognized that water scarcity will escalate
and that available water resources must be planned more
strategically and managed more efficiently and sustainably than
ever before
This involves actions:
 at National level, to put in place instruments for optimal
water allocation between sectors for an efficient and
sustainable water resources management
 at Agricultural-sector (and local) level, to ensure that water
allocated to agriculture is used efficiently and productively
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For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

13. The Water Scarcity Initiative
The Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity in Near East and
North Africa (WSI) has been established by FAO to support
countries in identifying, adopting and implementing evidencebased policy-decisions, sound governance and institutions,
cost-effective water investments and best management
practices that can significantly improve agriculture productivity
and food security in the region
The initiative is premised on the principle that in a so complex
field as agricultural water management, and in the enormous
diversity of situations across the NENA region, there is a
strong advantage in seeking structured ways and means
beyond the national level, to better understand challenges
and potentials, to learn from each-other experiences, to
innovate and scale up successful cases.
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For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

14. The pilot phase
Launched in June 2013, was planned to have two major products:
a Regional Collaborative Strategy on sustainable agriculture
water management for food security
a Regional Partnership to support countries in implementing
the Collaborative Strategy
Six countries (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia and Yemen)
applying the initial analytical framework of the WSI:
‘water accounting’ (availability, use and projections)
‘food supply cost curve’ (identification and ranking options
for future food supply and related economic and water costs)
‘gap analysis’ (investigating policies, governance and
performance of agriculture water management)
 Work to be completed within the first semester of 2014
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For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

15. The Regional Collaborative Strategy
The Regional Collaborative Strategy will complement existing
initiatives in the Region and will seek structured mechanisms to
address water scarcity beyond the national level
A Regional Collaborative Strategy could:
set up a continuing process for research studies, experience
and knowledge sharing
bring all sector professionals across NENE into regular
exchanges and updates
Highlight, adapt and scale up best practices across the region
The Regional Collaborative Strategy was discussed at the Land
and Water Days held in Amman, Jordan (15-18 December, 2013)
by over 230 participants, including 80 experts from 15 countries
and 16 international and regional institutions.
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For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

16. The partnership pledge
We, Agencies, Organizations and Institutions working in the
NENA, ACSAD, AOAD, AWC, CEDARE, DRC, ESCWA, FAO,
GIZ,
ICARDA, ICBA, IFAD, IWMI, LAS, NWRC-Egypt, UNESCO, WB
and WFP………
Declare our strong interest and willingness to work together,
drawing on our collective knowledge and resources, in an
effective, action-oriented and result-based Regional Partnership,
to support the implementation of relevant collaborative
strategies, (e.g., the ‘Arab Water Security Strategy’, the ‘Arab
Strategy for Sustainable Agricultural Development’, etc.),
assisting the Countries of the Region to cope with water
scarcity, manage sustainably their land and water resources
and meet their sustainable development goals
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For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

17. Focus Areas of Work
• Strategic planning & policies of water resources for water and
food security (adopting a water-food-energy nexus approach)
• Strengthening/reforming governance at all levels
• Improving water management, performances and productivity
in major agricultural systems (rainfed and irrigated) and in the
food chain
• Managing the water supply through reuse, recycling and
adaptation to climate change
• Building sustainability, with focus on ground water, pollution
and soil salinity
• Benchmarking, monitoring and reporting on water use
efficiency and productivity
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For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

18. Keeping the relevance at scale
At regional level:
develop an action plan for the implementation of the
Collaborative Strategy between countries, giving priority to
existing Regional strategies (e.g., Arab Water Security
Strategy)
promote south-south cooperation and support the
establishment of a Regional Trust Fund for the NENA
implement ‘facilities’ to serve countries in their national work,
e.g., benchmarking, climate change impact assessments,
scenario analysis for future development trajectories
At national level:
support countries translate the regional agenda into national
action plans for sustainable agriculture water management
provide adequate support for the action plans implementation,
in collaboration with strategic Partners
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For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

19. Elements of innovation
• Evidence-based approaches
• Farmers as full partners (commercial operator and ultimate
manager of soil and water)
• Involvement of private sector ( food value chain, technology)
• Effective synergies in innovation and learning (from farmer-tofarmer exchange of solutions, practitioners as main actors)
• Tailored, action-oriented and result-based partnership
• An inclusive approach to change
NERC-32
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

20. Guidance sought from NERC-32
The conference may wish to:
•support the regional initiative on water scarcity
•welcome the efforts and actions undertaken by FAO and
Partners to develop a regional collaborative strategy on
sustainable water management for food security
•provide guidance on priority areas for action under the
regional initiative on water scarcity to be considered in the
PWB 2014-2015 and the MTP 2014-2017
•invite countries to formulate national action plans and to
support the formulation of a regional action plan to
implement the regional collaborative strategy
NERC-32
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region

21. Thank
You
http://neareast.fao.org
NERC-32
For a Resilient and a Food Secure Region