Mountain Partnership
Languages menu:
Mountain Partnership
« Mountain Partnership Web site
Focus on North Africa and the Middle East
Farming system
The Highland Mixed System extends across the North Africa and Near East region and is generally intermediate between the rice-wheat system of the lowlands and the sparse mountain systems above. Generally, ruminant livestock are an important part of the system because they provide draught power, milk, manure and cash income. However, the system is vulnerable, due to overgrazing of rangeland, remoteness and lack of social services in many areas. The prevalence of poverty and food insecurity is rated between moderate and severe, depending on the location. The highland mixed system is also typical of the middle Himalaya region (see Hindu Kush-Himalaya).
Promising mountain products
Between October 2004 and March 2005, the FAO Mountain Products Programme funded a study on Promising Mountain Products in North Africa and the Middle East, which was carried out by the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM). The study highlighted a number of economic, institutional, technological and socio-cultural factors related to promotion of mountain products based on data collected from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and Jordan.
This preliminary study served as a basis to carry out a subsequent more in-depth study of the argane oil, olive oil, saffron and rural tourism sub-sectors in the Anti-Atlas region of Morocco. This study was funded by the Programme and carried out by the NGO Migrations et Développement.
Information and knowledge centre
North Africa and Middle East
The FAO Mountain Products Programme, with funding from the Government of France (Ministry of Agriculture), and in collaboration with the International Centre for Advanced Mediterannean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), is currently involved in the development of an Information and Knowledge Centre on High-Quality High-Value Mountain Products for the North Africa and Middle East Region. The Centre will be ready in 2007 and will be hosted on the CIHEAM Observatory website. It is expected that the Centre will contain useful information for local organizations working with farmers in mountain areas, including best practices, guidelines for engaging in high-value markets, on-going development projects, related laws and policies, etc. Access to information on how to engage in sustainable production and marketing of high-quality, high-value mountain products is particularly relevant in view of the creation of an European Union-Mediterranean, or ‘EU MED’ free trade area in 2010.
top
Field projects
The Programme, in collaboration with Migrations et Développement, is currently preparing project proposals for support to the argane oil, saffron, olive oil and rural tourism sub-sectors in the Anti-Atlas mountain region of Morocco. Potential donors include the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and and the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme.
The definitions of farming systems in mountain areas are adapted from 'Towards a GIS-based analysis of mountain environments and populations' (FAO, 2003). Read more
