ABSTRACT
The West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region comprises a large part of the Middle East and spans over two continents (Africa and Asia) ranging from 14° to 38° north and 12° west to 59° east (Figure 7.1). Geographically, it spans from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian/Persian Gulf in the east and the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean in the south (Figure 7.1). The region includes 22 different countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. The region’s land area covers 1584 million hectare (Mha) or 10.6% of the world land area (Table 7.1). The cultivated area
7.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 163 7.2 The Region ............................................................................................................................ 166
7.2.1 Population ................................................................................................................. 166 7.2.2 Water Resources ....................................................................................................... 167 7.2.3 Water Use .................................................................................................................. 169 7.2.4 Future Plans to Increase Water Resources in the WANA Region ............................ 170 7.2.5 Arable Land Area ..................................................................................................... 173 7.2.6 Food Security in the WANA Region ........................................................................ 173
7.3 Egypt: A Case Study ............................................................................................................. 176 7.3.1 Population ................................................................................................................. 176 7.3.2 Water Resources ....................................................................................................... 176 7.3.3 Water Use .................................................................................................................. 178 7.3.4 Arable Land Area ..................................................................................................... 178 7.3.5 Future Plans to Increase Water Resources in Egypt ................................................. 180 7.3.6 Food Security in Egypt ............................................................................................. 181 7.3.7 Plant Residue Management ....................................................................................... 182
7.4 Soil Water Management........................................................................................................ 183 7.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 184 Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. 185 References ...................................................................................................................................... 185
covers 124.83 Mha or 7.9% of the region’s total land area. A wide variation in the total and cultivated areas occurs at the individual country level. For example, Bahrain and Cyprus have the smallest land areas of 0.08 and 0.93 Mha, respectively. By contrast, Algeria and Sudan have the largest land areas of 238.17 and 250.58 Mha, respectively (Table 7.1).
