Did you know that the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) is the most food-import-dependent region of the world? As highlighted in the AARINENA regional report for the GCARD 2010 process in West Africa and North Africa in March 2010, agricultural development in the WANA region is mostly influenced by arid and semi-arid climate which makes it the poorest region in the world in terms of water resources both globally and on inhabitant basis.

 

Rapid population growth, lack of political stability and land degradation are only some of the main challenges that this region faces today. To respond effectively to all of these challenges, agricultural growth in WANA needs to be accelerated without delay.

 

In order to succeed in generating the targeted research outputs needed to accelerate this agricultural productivity, the International Food Policy Research Institute has released the “Agricultural R&D in West Asia and North Africa.” This report assesses trends in investments and human resource capacity in agricultural R&D in 11 WANA countries, focusing on developments during 2009–2012.

 

Taking into account the various challenges related to agricultural R&D funding, human capacity, outputs, and institutional structure, the report outlines a number of policy implications for the region’s national governments. Click here to read this publication.

 

Picture credit: © Image Source/Corbis