land is also being lost due to urbanization. This situation is aggravated by the lack of appropriate regulation aimed at protecting farmland. The following priorities for AKST are essential:

• Improvement and reinforcement of land-use regulation and soil-protection policies;
• Implementation of good practice guides for agriculture;
• Rehabilitation and agricultural intensification by promoting local and regional associations to facilitate community- based soil management and restoration;
• Restoration of the vegetal cover through agroforestry projects; and
• Rehabilitation of salt-affected soils in irrigated areas.

6. A high rate of deforestation has contributed to dust blows, atmospheric pollution and carbon loss and to climate change. AKST is helping to promote new productive land-use systems that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and act as sinks for CO2, CH4, NO and N2O. Additionally, new approaches for producing clean energy are being encouraged.

7. CWANA, cradle of the main cultivated crops in the world, is rich in unique agrobiodiversity in cultivated plants and their wild relatives, domestic animals and other species such as medicinal plants. However, as a consequence of the extension of the agricultural area and of some agricultural practices, this agrobiodiversity is in danger. The development of monocropping systems has led to a reduced number of crops and species cultivated in the area and a significant loss of diversity, thus threatening the environmental and social sustainability of farming systems. According to the IUCN Red List, more than 1600 plant and animal species are threatened. In CWANA 27 countries are parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and 17 are parties of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB). Many actions have been taken to implement these agreements and joint projects were initiated to maintain biodiversity. However, some policy actions and technology transfer such as application of early warning systems and capacity building are still needed.

8. Agriculture originated in CWANA and the region is rich in traditional knowledge on water harvesting, cultural practices and animal breeding. In the last decade initiatives were developed to recognize, validate and maintain traditional knowledge. However, complete coverage is still lacking and there is danger that with increased urbanization this knowledge will be lost. AKST could benefit from projects that encourage its retention.

9. The countries of CWANA have made significant progress in raising per capita food consumption. They vary significantly in per capita income and living standards, and hunger and malnutrition still prevail in some regions, including rural areas. This appears to be from insufficient attention given to food security at farm household levels.

10. Agricultural risk management policies in CWANA have mainly consisted of emergency measures,

especially to cope with drought consequences and epidemics and programs to improve farming techniques. Most countries of the region need to design and implement a comprehensive and active risk policy. This would include the establishment of early warning systems, development of crop insurance and improvement in infrastructure, water management, agriculture and extension. Policies that protect human health, the environment and discourage cultivation of marginal land should be implemented. Marketing systems must be reinforced and farmer organizations promoted.

11. Agricultural activities in CWANA are undergoing major changes; policies have been reoriented to reduce public investment and support mechanisms favoring farm production. These changes negatively affect small- and medium-size farms, which play a major role in agricultural production and rural employment, including female employment. They reduce urban drift. Agricultural development strategies in CWANA are faced with major challenges: reducing poverty and securing food self-sufficiency and a better position on international markets, while protecting the environment. The contribution of the private sector to agricultural research and development is still limited in CWANA compared to the large contributions in industrialized countries.

12. In most countries of the region, rural migration and urbanization have been a major trend. However, while the share of the rural population has declined, the rural population has dramatically increased. Persistent high demographic growth amplified the pressure on the labor market and on natural resources. Food insecurity, aggravated by drought and climate change and unemployment, could intensify migration pressure.

13. Changes in farm structures in most CWANA countries have been characterized by two major trends: a movement toward the concentration of farmland within a minority of private and public farmers and a movement toward the fractioning of farmland, mostly through inheritance and demographic growth, which constrains consolidation and intensification of family farms. This is in contrast to industrialized countries, where the intensification of farming systems has eliminated farms and enlarged the average farm size.

14. In recent years, employment dynamics of the agricultural sector in most countries of CWANA have been characterized by a significant decline in the share of the active agricultural population, which went in average from over two-thirds of the active population in the 1960s to less than one-third, with increasing participation of women in agricultural production. Despite their major and increasing contribution to agricultural production and rural livelihoods, women's activities have remained unrecorded and undervalued, their role mainly restricted to unpaid family labor, as well as cheap and seasonal wage labor. While the illiteracy rate of rural women has remained very high in some countries (80% in Morocco), agricultural extension has continued to target mainly male head