Project Name
Support for Enhancement of Food Security in Arab Countries (Phase III)

A third phase of the project will build on the results achieved by verifying and fine-tuning recommended technology packages (wheat and food legume cultivars, agronomic and water management technologies), expanding the number of pilot sites to other agro-ecologies, thereby out-scaling the technologies to more end-users, and strengthening the capacity of national research and extension systems to promote the technologies for wider adoption.

In Phase III, the project involves ten countries, namely: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. The activities are extended to new sites, different from those used in Phase I and II and which are characterized by different constraints limiting the productivity of wheat-based production systems, and whenever possible, with an added focus on other crops for diversification and sustainability of the production system.

The longer-term impacts of the project are dependent on national governments implementing supportive policy and institutional measures that enable the further out-scaling and adoption of the improved technologies by farmers.

UPDATES

In 2020, project activities were implemented in 28 pilot areas which represented the wheat-based production systems followed by local farmers of participating countries. More than 1,100 demonstrations were held in farmers’ fields covering various improved technologies for wheat and legume production; the results of which led to an increase in wheat yield - varying from 15 to 97% depending on the country and production system. The average increase across all countries was 30%. However the maximum average increase in any one country was 69%, indicating the potential that exists for further improvement in wheat yield across all countries.

The project’s capacity building activities were affected by COVID-19 in 2020 due to confinement and shutdowns. However, the National Agricultural Research Systems’ partners stepped up their efforts in implementing the planned capacity-building activities, while taking obligatory safety measures into account. Due to these efforts, more than 5,800 farmers benefited from field days and farmers’ field schools in the project countries.