Water and its Landscape in the MENA Region (Middle East and North Africa)

MENA region includes the heterogeneous group of countries with a range of high-income oil-exporting countries in the Persian Gulf to middle-income and lower-middle-income countries as well as least developed countries. It is regarded as one of the world's largest net food importers which faces significant uncertainties from supply and demand. According to the World Economic Forum, the water crisis is the most important challenge that the Middle East and North Africa are the least prepared to face. In this paper with a review approach, the major global hazards, water resources status, consumption and policies of agricultural water, water use productivity in agricultural production, climate change impacts on agricultural production and systems in the region, vulnerability of rain fed agriculture, classifying MENA countries by main water management challenges, possible types of interventions according to the agricultural system, and the status of countries' natural resources have been investigated. Based on the results, environmental protection strategies, water allocation and water service management approaches for the countries of the region have proposed.