Managing water resources under climatic change in the dry areas of North Africa and the Middle East
The dryland landscapes of North Africa and the Middle East are managed by cultivators and scientists who are skilled in identifying adaptation and mitigation strategies to maximize livelihood benefits,even under conditions of resource scarcity.Climatic changes have been increasing resource scarcity and variability in this region over several millennia.More recently,anthropogenic processes are further reducing resource availability and quality.Continuing climate changes are anticipated to exacerbate these effects.Following a brief description of the current situation and expected trends affecting the three main agroecosystems in the region,this paper reviews examples of promising and successful management strategies and ongoing scientific work on pilot testing these strategies by multidisciplinary teams from eight countries taking part in the USAID-funded Water and Livelihoods Initiative,led by ICARDA.The paper considers research progress and challenges to understand and predict cross-scale processes connecting water resource management on the ground to global climate change effects.Challenges for assessment of productivity and valuation of crops,livestock and ecosystem services in order to evaluate the costs and benefits of adaptation are also identified.The paper underlines the importance of connecting decision-makers economic evaluations to continuous field level monitoring by cultivators and scientists.
Caroline King Fawzi Karajeh
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas(ICARDA) International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas(ICARDA)
国际会议
The 11th International Conference on Development of Drylands(第十一届国际干旱区大会)
北京
英文
345-357
2013-03-18（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）