Theme 4: Socioeconomics and Policy
Project 4.3:

Policy and Public Management Research in the Dry Areas of Central and West Asia and North Africa
Goal: Improved policy and public management that promotes sustainable production systems and livelihood strategies in the dry areas of Central and West Asia and North Africa.
Indicator: Policy and public management options adopted by policy-makers
Purpose: Influence reforms of national and regional policies and institutions to promote agricultural investments and management decisions in dry areas with respect to efficiency, equity and environmental sustainability.
Indicator: Governments and research institutions have clearly defined tools to evaluate the welfare and resource management consequences of different policy, institutional and public management options in the dry areas.
Improved information base to guide national policy formulation.
Research findings are included in the design of rural development policies, policy reforms and public management systems.
Output 1: Identification of the policy and property rights environments under which rural producers and communities make their decisions and characterize the incentive and disincentive structures that shape their resource management, production and livelihood strategies
Indicators: Two synthesis documents and six monographs analyzing the current policy environment in WANA and discussing the implications of policy reforms in terms of welfare changes and sustainability in the region.
Two synthesis documents and eight monographs analyzing property rights policies and their effects on land improvements, productivity, and incomes in the low rainfall areas of WANA.
Milestones:
2003:
 Published book on Property rights
  2004: Synthesis paper on the effects of property rights on biodiversity conservation and land degradation in selected CWANA countries
 
2005:
 Paper on the development of land markets in selected CWANA countries.
Output 2: Evaluation of the effects of policy, property rights and technological options on sustainable resource management and livelihood strategies of farming and herding communities in the dry areas.
Indicators: Three studies identifying the feasibility of policy, property rights and technological options in selected communities in Morocco, Tunisia and Syria
Five community studies describing the model building and evaluation of selected policy, property rights and technological options in communities in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Libya
Effects of property rights on land improvement, technology use and livelihood strategies in 16 selected communities in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia.
Milestones:
2003:
 Community modeling methodology documented and developed into a user-friendly framework.
Training provided on the community approach.
 
2004:
 Training provided on community modeling.
Output 3: Identification and evaluation of property rights and local institutional options for sustainable management of rangeland resources in Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia
  Indicators: Synthesis reports evaluating the likely welfare effects of different rangeland management institutional options on subgroups within the community (gainers and losers under each option) and the importance of institutional and market based feed access options for sustaining production and livelihood strategies
  Milestones:
  2003: Chapters published in the property rights book.
Review paper on resource tenure and dynamics for the World Bank.
 
2004:
 Pastoral organizations Conflict management in the dry areas.
Monographs on rangeland management in Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon and Libya.
Monograph on rangeland management of selected countries in Central Asia
 
2005:
 Book on institutional options and rangeland development in CWANA countries.
  Output 4: Assessment of women's resource access and use, and household livelihood strategies in selected sites in Syria
  Indicators: Report of the Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) and focus groups of selected communities.
Synthesis report on women asset building strategies and access to productive resources and identification of the women's constraints in conducting their activities.
  Milestones:
  2003: Published report, journal articles and methodology paper on evaluating the role of women in household livelihood strategies.
  Output 5: Updates of ICARDA commodities, resources and system trends for more effective research targeting and priority assessment
  Indicators: Briefs on commodity and system production trends in West Asia and North Africa
  Milestones:
  2003: Synthesis report on commodity and system trends.
Duration: 2 years.
  Users
The primary clientele are policy makers in the target countries of North Africa and West and Central Asia; NARS partners and other researchers will benefit from research on the efficiency, equity and environmental consequences of policy, property rights and technological options.
  Collaborators:
 
  • NARS partners include: Ministries of Agriculture and Planning; Centre Aridoculture-INRA, and Hassan II University, Morocco; INRAT, University of Mograne, Tunisia; Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI), Lebanese University and American University of Beirut, Lebanon; NCARTT, the University of Jordan, and the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), Jordan; Directorate of Agricultural Scientific Research and University of Aleppo, Syria; IPA Agricultural Research Center, Iraq; Station Experimentale ITGC, Algeria; ARC, Libya
  • Other research partners: Environmental and Production Technology Division of IFPRI; School of Rural Development and Planning, University of Guelph, Canada; Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
  Cost:

 
  2003 US$ 0.346 Million
  2004 US$ 0.368 Million
  2005 US$ 0.383 Million
  System Linkages: 
Output 4 Sustainable Production: 90%
Output 5 Enhancing NARS: 10%
  Linkage to Systemwide Programme on Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRi), convened by IFPRI.
  Financing Plan:
  Unrestricted core funds. Joint appointment with IFPRI of senior scientist. Anticipated funding from IFAD and the Arab Fund for collaborative activities with NARS in WANA.
     
  Project 4.2