Aden Aw-Hassan

THE ROLE OF INFORMAL FARMER-TO-FARMER SEED DISTRIBUTION IN DIFFUSION OF NEW BARLEY VARIETIES IN SYRIA

SUMMARY This study examines the role, structure and effectiveness of informal seed systems in the diffusion of new barley varieties. It uses data collected by tracing farmers who received new barley varieties and other farmers who purchased seeds through farmer-to-farmer seed trade over a period of five years. The principal finding was that informal farmer-to-farmer seed dissemination was an important vehicle for the diffusion of new barley varieties, which were grow on 27% of the barley area of monitored farmers, despite a complete lack of extension support. Almost all seed exchanges were undertaken through purchases at market prices, highlighting the importance of markets in informal seed systems. The second main finding was the high concentration of seed sales among a few key seed suppliers, who established reputations as reliable sources of seed and had contacts with research organizations. The importance of market-based local seed transactions implies that farmers specializing in seed sales can invest in local seed enterprises and provide sustainable services at affordable prices. The results of this study indicate great potential for supporting local seed suppliers in order to ensure a sustainable flow of new crop varieties to smallholder farmers in the dry areas. The study also examined farmers’ criteria in evaluating and eventually adopting a new variety. These criteria depend on agro-ecological zones with more complex criteria in drier areas with high rainfall variability. These findings will help plant breeding programmes to target dry and marginal areas, where access to new varieties is low, more effectively.

An integrated agro-ecosystem and livelihood systems approach for the poor and vulnerable in dry areas

More than 400 million people in the developing world depend on dryland agriculture for their livelihoods. Dryland agriculture involves a complex combination of productive components: staple crops, vegetables, livestock, trees and fish interacting principally with rangeland, cultivated areas and watercourses. Managing risk and enhancing productivity through diversification and sustainable intensification is critical to securing and improving rural livelihoods. The main biophysical constraints are natural resource limitations and degradation, particularly water scarcity and encroaching desertification. Social and economic limitations, such as poor access to markets and inputs, weak governance and lack of information about alternative production technologies also limit the options available to farmers. Past efforts to address these constraints by focusing on individual components have either not been successful or are now facing a declining rate of impact, indicating the need for new integrated approaches to research for development of dryland systems. This article outlines the characteristics of such an approach, integrating agro-ecosystem and livelihoods approaches and presents a range of empirical examples of its application in dryland contexts. The authors draw attention to new insights about the design of research required to accelerate impact by integrating across disciplines and scales.

Trends in Small Ruminant Meat Production–Consumption Gaps in West Asia and North Africa Implications for Intra-Regional Trade

This paper examines past trends in the small ruminant sector in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region; it explains the main driving forces of these trends and their implications for the livelihoods of the poor; and addresses technological, institutional and policy issues that should be considered in order to improve the sectors performance and reduce its environmental impact. There has been significant growth in the small ruminant population and production in WANA during the last three decades. However, there is a widening gap between production and consumption. The production growth in the small ruminant sector is attributable to improvements in veterinary services, the provision of feed subsidies and credit for producers, the increased use of alternative feed resources and the progressive intensification of production. Consumption growth results from increases in per capita real income, urbanization and population growth. The benefits of this economic boom, however, may bypass the small producers in the WANA exporting countries, who are often the poorest in the region. Producers and traders in these countries face a challenge in maintaining their share of export markets because of structural and technical constraints that affect their competitiveness. The environmental impacts associated with the expansion of small ruminant production, in terms of rangeland degradation, are another public concern. The challenges are heightened by increasing competition from other suppliers and trends towards lower government subsidies and greater international trade. Technological improvements and policy changes are necessary for the better performance of the small ruminant sector in WANA to ensure that poor small producers are not excluded from the dynamic markets in the region and beyond.

Economics of Land Degradation in Central Asia

Land degradation is a major development challenge in Central Asia, with negative implications on rural livelihoods and food security. We estimate the annual cost of land degradation in the region due to land use and cover change between 2001 and 2009 to be about 6 billion USD, most of which due to rangeland degradation (4.6 billion USD), followed by desertification (0.8 billion USD), deforestation (0.3 billion USD) and abandonment of croplands (0.1 billion USD). The costs of action against land degradation are found to be lower than the costs of inaction in Central Asia by 5 times over a 30-year horizon, meaning that each dollar spent on addressing land degradation is likely to have about 5 dollars of returns. This is a very strong economic justification favoring action versus inaction against land degradation. Specifically, the costs of action were found to equal about 53 billion USD over a 30-year horizon, whereas if nothing is done, the resulting losses may equal almost 288 billion USD during the same period. Better access to markets, extension services, secure land tenure, and livestock ownership among smallholder crop producers are found to be major drivers of SLM adoptions.

Impact of Lysine-Fortified Wheat Flour on Morbidity and Immunologic Variables among Members of Rural Families in Northwest Syria

Background Previous studies have shown an effect of lysine fortification on nutrition and immunity of poor men, women, and children consuming a predominantly wheat-based diet. Objective To examine the lysine value of diets and the effect of lysine fortification on functional protein status, anthropometry, and morbidity of men, women, and children in rural Syria. Methods At baseline of a two-phase study using 7-day household food intake inventories (n = 98), nutrient availabilities per adult male equivalent were estimated. In the intervention phase, a 16-week double-blind trial, households (n = 106) were randomly assigned to control and lysine groups. Hematologic and anthropometric data were collected from men (n = 69; 31 control, 38 lysine), women (n = 99; 51 control, 48 lysine), and children (n = 69; 37 control, 32 lysine) at baseline, 12 weeks, and 16 weeks. Total CD3 T lymphocytes as well as T lymphocytes bearing the receptors CD4, CD8, and CD56, IgM, IgG, IgA, complement C3, C-reactive protein, serum albumin, prealbumin, transferrin, retinol-binding protein, hemoglobin, and hepatitis B surface antigen were determined. Health status and flour usage were monitored. Paired- and independent-sample t-tests and chi-square tests were performed. Results Mean nutrient availability per adult equivalent was 2,650 ± 806 kcal, 70.1 ± 26.4 g protein, 65 ± 14% cereal protein, and 41.9 ± 0.8 mg lysine per gram of protein. Complement C3 was significantly higher in men receiving lysine than in controls (p < .05). Among women, there were significant differences between the control and lysine groups in diarrhea period prevalence (total number of diarrheal episodes during the period of intervention divided by the total number of observations), (20 in the control group, 6 in the lysine group; p = .014), the mean number of days ill (0.4 ± 0.7, control, 0.14 ± 0.4, lysine, p = 0.03), and the number of diarrheal episodes per person per year (1.39 in the control group, 0.47 in the lysine group). No other significant differences between the lysine and the control groups were observed. Conclusions Lysine fortification of wheat flour demonstrated a positive effect on diarrheal morbidity in women. The effect could be attributed to an improvement in protein utilization but possibly also to a direct effect of lysine in gastrointestinal tract. Studies in populations with higher diarrheal prevalence and significant dietary lysine deficiency are needed to determine whether the reported effects on diarrheal prevalence are replicable and whether they are pharmacological or nutritional. It would be particularly desirable to study the effect of lysine on diarrhea in preschool children, who have much higher morbidity and mortality rates from this disease than school-age children or adults.

Index-based insurance for climate risk management and rural development in Syria

Improving the adaptive capacity of rural producers to climate and weather risks may become an urgent issue in the early stages of political stabilization in Syria. Therefore, this study analyses the agro-ecological, economic and social benefits of – and the institutional challenges to – establishing index-based insurance markets to catalyse rural development in Syria. The paper examines the potential of three index insurance schemes for minimizing risk: (1) a statistical index, (2) an index based on agro-meteorological approach and (3) a remote sensing-based index. It also discusses how index-based insurance markets contribute to rural development in scenarios of increasing climate risks. The study identifies that all three insurance schemes have a very high potential to cope with increasing climate risk. Insurance schemes designed according to these indexes performed very well in terms of covering revenue losses in most of the extreme drought years observed in the country. Farmers purchasing an insurance contract may have better access to credit and find it easier to invest in agricultural production and improve productivity. Because such alternative index-based insurance programmes are low cost, they are more affordable for poor farmers and thus can potentially make an excellent contribution to economic growth in rural areas.

Growth status of children in north west Syria: A comparison of three rural livelihood groups

Undernutrition, a multifactorial phenomenon, has severe consequences. A study was conducted in Syria to compare nutritional differences in children from three rural livelihood groups: a “barley-livestock” group in the southeast (Khanasser), and an “olive/fruit tree” group and an “irrigation” group in the northwest of Aleppo province (Afrin). An anthropometric assessment was conducted on 541 rural children from 207 rural households and 199 urban children (2–10 years) from a middle income urban group. Comparisons were made with the 1978 NCHS/WHO (National Center for Health Statistics/ World Health Organization) international growth reference (WHO, 1995) and a –2 SD Z-score was used as a cut-off. Prevalence rates and mean Z-scores were calculated and independent sample t-tests used to compare totals and age-group disaggregated children (both boys and girls). Total stunting prevalence was highest in the barley-livestock group (23%) and lowest in the irrigation group (12.5%). Girls in the barley-livestock group displayed the highest rates of stunting (28.3%), followed by the boys (22%) and the girls (21.08%) in the olive/fruit tree group. The prevalence of underweight children was highest in the barley-livestock and olive/fruit tree livelihood groups (14.29% and 13.25%, respectively). Wasting rates were very low. The rates of stunting and underweight were higher in the barley-livestock and olive/fruit tree groups, as compared with the country-level estimates of 20.8 percent and 12.9 percent respectively, in children under five. A comparison of rates and mean scores indicates that, amongst rural groups, there was considerable variation: the barley-livestock and olive/fruit tree group, belonging to drier and poorer areas, exhibited higher rates and lower mean scores.

Agricultural Productivity in the WANA Region

The interest of governments, international organizations, NGOs and the general public has recently been aroused by studies considering the use of existing agricultural technology, the use of innovations in such technology and the production of agricultural goods. The attention received by such studies has grown as a result of an unprecedented wave of trade liberalization in the world (involving bilateral, regional and multilateral trade-integration processes), coupled with concerns over food security, high rates of population growth and the use of limited and frequently degraded natural resources. In this context, the Malmquist Index, used to measure agricultural productivity, is a powerful tool, providing insights into whether or not a country is approaching what may be termed “best practice” by using and disseminating existing technology (efficiency change), and/or by innovating technology (technical change). Using the Malmquist Index on a sample of 12 countries within West Asia and North Africa (WANA) indicated that, between 1961 and 1997, Turkey, Tunisia, Syria and Algeria (in that order) were the “most productive” countries. Following them, in terms of agricultural productivity, were Iran, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco, while Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen and Ethiopia were the “least productive” countries of the 12 considered. Recurring negative results, with respect to both technical change and efficiency change, in Ethiopia, Sudan, Pakistan and Yemen, suggest that governments and national and international organizations and research institutions should make greater efforts to strengthen agricultural research and extension services if food security and competitiveness are to be improved.

Economics of Land Degradation and Improvement in Uzbekistan

Land degradation is a major challenge for agricultural and rural development in Uzbekistan. Our research findings indicate that the costs of land degradation in Uzbekistan are substantial; reaching about 0.85 billion USD annually resulting from the loss of valuable land ecosystem services due to land use and land cover changes alone between 2001 and 2009. On the other hand, economic simulations also show that the returns from actions to address land degradation can be four times higher their costs over a 30-year planning horizon, i.e. every dollar invested into land rehabilitation can yield 4 dollars of returns over this period. The priority geographic locations for actions against land degradation are suggested to be Karakalpakstan, Buhoro and Syrdaryo provinces of Uzbekistan, where the returns from actions are the biggest. The econometric analysis of a nationally representative survey of agricultural producers shows that national policies could enhance the uptake of sustainable land management practices by increasing crop diversification, securing land tenure and creating non-farm jobs in rural areas.

Collective Action for Common Rangelands Improvement: A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy in Uzbekistan

Rangeland degradation endangers livelihoods of many rural communities in Uzbekistan. Despite the threat of land deterioration from climate change, there are many reasons that land users do not take action to prevent or reduce land degradation. The described project uses a low-cost approach to mobilize stakeholders and initiate collective action. Based on a social learning process focusing on development of local climate-change scenarios, villagers from Qiziltepa district identified adaptation options and agreed on a common purpose to restore rangelands through collective governance systems. They formed pastoral user groups, established seed isles to ensure seeding of forage shrubs, and agreed on seasonal grazing. This case study shows the critical importance of scenarios in social learning processes for building awareness concerning climate change adaptation; they led to changes in perceptions and agreement on collective action and governance. We compare the potential of this integrated approach with large-scale seeding.