grams. It will highlight opportunities, challenges, biological characteristics, institutional infrastructure and operational considerations influencing management of plant and animal genetic resources. It will also include main threats to livestock genetic resources and outline areas of greatest opportunity to better manage these resources. Some countries in the region have already prepared their country reports and set up projects to conserve farm animal genetics.

2.1.7.8 Exploitation and use of agrobiodiversity

Exploitation and use of genetic resources postulates knowledge and evaluates the characters expressed by the genome and identifies desirable characteristics for breeding. As indicated in the Global Plan of Agriculture for the Conservation and the Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, "the broadening of the genetic base of crops will contribute to increasing crop stability and performance" (FAO, 1996b). In most crop species, populations have been reduced dramatically as a result of breeding and selection. For years, plant breeders have limited their programs to a small part of the diversity in the region. However, wild relatives and ancestors, old varieties, landraces and weedy forms were collected from different institutions and maintained in the national, regional and CGIAR gene banks. Those collections are a valuable but relatively unexploited source of genetic variability. To broaden the genetic base and enhance the ability to respond to abiotic and biotic stress, a systematic evaluation is needed of genetic diversity in the region. In well-organized CWANA countries national programs collaborate in breeding, evaluating and using genetic diversity (FAO, 1996a). In Turkey, many varieties are released from national collections (Tan and Inal, 2003). Collaboration with CGIAR has led countries to exploit and use their genetic diversity to adapt even to extreme conditions.

Participatory variety selection and plant breeding are effective at identifying new material for farmer conditions, preferences and needs. Participatory methods allow farmers to select new materials, enhancing diversity where traditional cultivars have been lost. Participation of farmers in the initial stages of breeding, when the genetic variability is untapped, will fully exploit the potential gains by adding farmers' perception of their needs and knowledge of the crop. Farmer participation has been established in some countries in the region by several agencies and ICARDA. Opportunities for interaction and cooperation between formal breeding station work and farmer expertise need to be fully explored. Research is also needed on transferring appropriate technology among farming systems to manage great diversity. Research support is needed for traditional seed production, emphasizing farmers and natural selection pressures, insect pests, diseases, storage conditions and soil fertility. Participatory plant breeding allows the farmers' diversity to be maintained on farms. This approach is a main component of in situ conservation programs.

Decentralized participatory barley breeding, ICARDA: case study. At ICARDA, the gradual change from centralized and nonparticipatory to decentralized participatory barley breeding was implemented in Syria between 1997 and 2003 in three steps. The model and concepts developed during

this period were gradually applied in Egypt, Eritrea, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco and Yemen.

The first was an exploratory step with the main objectives of building human relationships, understanding farmers' preferences, measuring farmers' selection efficiency, developing scoring methods and enhancing farmers' skills. The exploratory work included selecting farmers and sites and establishing one common experiment for all participants (Ceccarelli et al., 2000, 2003). The second step was primarily about methods and implementing the breeding plan, choosing and testing designs and analysis, refining farmer methods and planning village seed production.

A common finding of participatory breeding programs is that different farmers in different communities select different varieties. Data collected on barley suggested that farmer selection may narrow biodiversity in the breeding material. However, because different farmers select different material, the biodiversity is maintained or increased (Ceccarelli and Grando, 2002). Through participatory breeding several farmers became aware of the value of landraces and were interested in conserving them.

2.2 Policies, Institutions and Regulations

2.2.1 Development strategies and agricultural policies

In CWANA, as in other developing countries, agricultural development strategies have had successive shifts since the late 1950s. In the early post-independence era, the late 1950s to the early 1970s, development was strongly influenced by the "import substitution model," which was dominant and aimed to promote rapid industrialization. This meant heavy taxation of the agricultural sector, including taxes on commodity exports, overvalued currency exchange rates and high import tariffs.

Many governments attempted to correct the bias against agriculture by intervening in agricultural markets through price measures, setting up compulsory state monopolies, providing basic services, credit, essential inputs, technical and market information and by marketing and distributing (FAO, 2002). In the early 1980s, growing account deficits, external debt problems and foreign exchange crises imposed a shift in development strategies. Most developing countries implemented structural adjustment policies.

From the 1980s to the 1990s, structural adjustment involved import tariff reduction, market deregulation, privatization, fiscal stabilization through currency realignments and significant budget cuts. For agriculture, the primary objective was to make it more market oriented. Budget cuts were often made in subsidized credit, inputs, extension systems and in investment in research and infrastructure. Agricultural reforms often reduced or eliminated the state in trading, eliminated domestic price controls and gradually removed state procurement programs (FAO, 2002).

These policies had mixed results on the agricultural sector. While allowing for an increase of agricultural exports and the intensification of farm production in some countries of the region (Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey), they disrupted markets and often resulted in deteriorating food security and increased poverty in many other countries.

While still focusing on improving the competitiveness through farm productivity growth, integrating more farmers