Adaptation to Climate Change in Marginal Environments in West Asia and North Africa

Recent changes in climate pattern, such as prolonged droughts, and extreme temperatures, as well as increased rainfall irregularity, intensity and distribution, have further negatively affected the natural and agro-ecosystems in the region and increased the vulnerability of the people dependent on these resources for their livelihoods. As the populations and economies of the region grow, the demand for food will increase and the water scarcity will worsen, resulting in further competition between the industrial, agricultural and domestic sectors. The past decades have seen an increasing number of farmers abandon their lands or face very low productivity, and this is having dire social and economic consequences necessitating the development of alternative, more productive, and sustainable farming systems appropriate for the socioeconomic and changing environmental conditions of the region.