decreased, but it is still among the top-valued crops. Cash crops, such as maize and hazelnuts, are grown in both rainfed and irrigated areas. The amount of irrigated land increased. Cow's milk is also important. Chicken meat production increased and this meat is now among the ten top products in value. Beef is also in the top ten, while mutton decreased in value.

Pakistan. Pakistan has the second most arable land, 22%, in the region. The climate is arid with low rainfall and humidity and high solar radiation over most of the country. Most areas receive less than 200 mm annual rainfall. The high-altitude northern mountains receive more than 500 mm. Similar cropping patterns have existed in Pakistan for the last 40 years, with some modification, showing a large increase in permanent crops (1961, 150x106 ha; 2005, 700x106 ha) and irrigated land (1961, 10x106 ha; 20005, 18x106 ha). Cereals yield showed regular increases, going from 0.8 tonnes ha-1 to 2.5 tonnes ha-1.

Iran. Iran is one of the largest countries in CWANA, half of which is unproductive land. The diversity of climate in Iran provides a good opportunity for varied agriculture and horticulture. Water shortages are compounded by unequal distribution of rainfall. Similar to Turkey, wheat and barley are the two main crops. Chickpea and lentils are planted in late winter and early spring. Dates and watermelon replaced pistachios. Irrigated area increased from 5 to 8x106 ha and permanent crops increased from 5 to 20x106 ha. During the same period, yields in cereals, fruits and vegetables showed regular increases, cereal yield from 1 to 2.5 tonnes ha-1, fruits from 4 to 11.3 tonnes ha-1 and vegetables 6.8 to 22.6 tonnes ha-1.

Morocco. Morocco is extremely dependent on its agricultural sector. Over 90% of the country's agriculture is rainfed; output is unreliable and only 19% of the land is cultivated. Morocco produces wheat, barley, citrus, wine, vegetables and livestock. Agricultural land increased from 4.5 to 7.5x106 ha without major changes in the cropping systems. However, the land area devoted to permanent crops and olives has increased in recent years. Vegetable yield increased threefold. Irrigated areas almost doubled. Like other Mediterranean countries, yields in cereals show huge annual variability.

Egypt. The total agricultural land of Egypt is about 3.28x106 ha, of which about 92% is in the Nile Valley. Almost all agricultural lands are entirely dependent on irrigation. In the last century, the arable area increased by about 1x106 ha, while the country's population increased nearly sixfold, from 11.2 to 65 million. While cotton was the main crop (26% of arable land), its area has been reduced from 834,000 ha in the 1960s to 315,000 ha in 2005. Grains, maize, wheat and rice occupy about 50% in the cropping systems, with large increases in wheat and rice over the last 50 years. Wheat is the most cultivated crop. Clover for animal feed-almost nonexistent in 1960s-increased along with the rotation system and now represents between 20 to 25% of the cropping area. Tomato production currently occupies 195,000 ha and is the highest grossing crop in Egypt.

Excessive use of irrigated agriculture has had adverse effects on the environment. Around 840,000 ha in Egypt, mostly cultivated lands in the North Delta, are salt affected.

2.1.3 Water resource development and management

2.1.3.1 Trends in potential water resources in CWANA

Economic growth remains dependent on water. Most areas of CWANA have scarce water and pronounced variable climate. CWANA's exploitable water resources have undergone a considerable evolution since the 1970s, particularly in the 1990s. Countries mobilized more of their water resources. New infrastructures were built; for example, water that Tunisia can use increased from 2.6x109 m3 in 1990, 57% of the resource, to 4.1x109 m3 in 2004, 90% of the resource. New hydraulic structures will be completed during the next decade, including 11 large dams and 50 retention dams or lakes.

Despite this, CWANA water resources per capita have decreased, due to the increase in population. About half the CWANA countries are below the threshold of 500 m3 per person annually (Figure 2-2), This threshold was once considered a minimum for easy development for a country, but now it is thought the average needs are around 1000 m3 (Falkenmark, 1997; Tropp et al., 2006).

2.1.3.2 Evolution in water uses and water demand

Agriculture uses 98% of the water in Afghanistan and Turkmenistan and about 65% or less in Algeria, Lebanon, Armenia and Bahrain. Agricultural water withdrawal has evolved rapidly the past few years. Agriculture seems to be the sector where water must be saved (Table 2-1). Just a few countries, for example, Tunisia and Uzbekistan, have decreased water consumption in agriculture through the introduction of water saving policies.

For some countries, total water withdrawal is greater than the amount that can be renewed. Supplementary water comes from depletion of renewable groundwater, abstraction of fossil groundwater and nonconventional resources, desalinated water, treated wastewater and saline drainage water. Water withdrawal, expressed as a percentage of internal renewable water, indicates the capacity to rely on renewable water sources. Values above 100% indicate that water flows in from outside the subregion or country, or that fossil or nonconventional water sources are used. The CWANA region has the highest percentage of water withdrawal worldwide and it is expected to intensify (Table 2-1). The withdrawal rates are already above the 40% threshold for water scarcity, beyond which cost and groundwater depletion increase dramatically. For some countries these percentages are extremely high, for example, the Kingdom of Bahrain.

2.1.3.3 Trends in water strategies and policies

Water conservation remains the main component for water resource management. The loss between producing the water and its use was estimated to be more than 25% in most countries. If one adds the waste from poor or underutilization of water to the loss between producing and using it, the amount wasted may be 40 to 50% of the global volume. Methods to conserve water in irrigated agriculture include modernization of irrigation networks, improvement of plot