Water Scarcity, Climate Change and Conflict in the Middle East: Securing Livelihoods, Building Peace

ISBN-13: 9781784537760 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 368 str.

Chris Ward; Sandra Rucksthuhl

Opis

The countries that make up the MENA region display wide diversity. One of the poorest countries in the world sits alongside two of the wealthiest, whilst the region's natural resources range from immeasurable oil and gas reserves to some of the scantiest natural endowments anywhere in the world. Yet amongst this diversity runs a common thread: water scarcity. Now, as a result of human development and climate change, the water resource itself is changing, exposing it to new risks and increasing the vulnerability of those dependent on it. Chris Ward and Sandra Ruckstuhl assess the increased challenges facing MENA countries, placing particular emphasis on water scarcity and the resultant risks to livelihoods, food security and the environment. They evaluate the risks and reality of climate change in the region, and offer an assessment of the vulnerability of agriculture and livelihoods. In a final section they explore the options for responding to the new challenges, including policy, institutional, economic and technical measures.

Spis treści

ContentsIntroduction: Background on the Middle East & North Africa regionThe countries of the regionA varied set of countries . Wide structural differences and diverse natural endowmentsGlobal and regional trendsSluggish growth, poor fiscal outlook and low investor confidence . Trade and food security .Political change . Demographic trends and pressures . The effects of conflictWater in the regionWater scarcity is a common thread . Demographic pressures are contributing to scarcity .Economic changes are also exacerbating scarcity . The faint but clear voice of the environment and of water's ecological services . Water scarcity and climate change .Water scarcity and the need for an integrated approachAgricultureThe importance of agriculture in the Middle East & North Africa . Pressures on agriculture .Agriculture and water scarcity . Agriculture and climate change . Competition for water and the case for transfer of water out of agriculture . Agriculture and rural poverty .Perceived links between water, agriculture and food securityWater and conflictPART I: CHALLENGESChapter 1: The challenge of water and agriculture and the drivers of water scarcityWater resources and usesWater uses by sectorClimate and farming systemsThe contribution of agricultureFood security and agricultural water managementFood production and consumption in the Middle East & North Africa . Food security and insecurity . Impacts of conflict on food security . Can food insecurity drive conflict? .Links between agriculture and food securityRecent trends: an agriculture already under stressLand and water use in agriculture . Productivity, technology and innovation . Market orientation . Policies, institutions and public goods . Agricultural heritage and conservationIrrigation in the Middle East & North AfricaThe importance of irrigation in the region . Agricultural water withdrawals . Types of irrigation in the regionDrivers of scarcity and the challenge of water for agricultureChapter 2: Climate change and its expected impacts on the farming systems of the regionClimate change events anticipated in the Middle East & North AfricaExpected impacts of climate change on agricultural water and farmingWater resources . Irrigation . Crop and livestock yields and production . Impacts by farming systemReadiness for climate changeStrategic preparednessResearch on issues of agriculture and climate changeThe region's contribution to climate changeChapter 3: Water and conflict in the Middle East and North AfricaA deadly water conflictThe nature and role of conflict in the water sector of the regionWhy does conflict so often arise over water?The nature of the resource . Social and institutional specifics of water . Political economy and power relations over waterTypes of water conflict in the regionA classification of transboundary conflict . A classification of conflict at the national or sectoral level . A classification of conflict at the local levelThe challenge of transboundary waterA fertile field for conflict in the region . Scant cooperation to date . Pointers for the futureConflict at the national or inter-sectoral levelConflicts over access to water and water-related services . Conflict of water-related policy with other interests . Conflict with environmental needs or resource sustainabilityConflict at the local levelConflicts arising from local adoption of new technology . Conflict provoked by state intervention at the local levelGrowing pressures to water conflict in the regionChanges in patterns of demand . Changes on the supply side . The changing institutional context and power relationsWater and conflict in the Syrian crisisWater and the causes of the Syrian crisis . The role of drought in the Syria crisis .How could this happen in a country that has so developed its water resources for agriculture? . Conclus

O autorze

Christopher Ward is a scholar on water and the environment with a particular interest in the Middle East. He studied at St John's College and St Antony's College, Oxford. After 25 years working at the World Bank, he joined the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, UK. He is the author of The Water Crisis in Yemen (2015) and of Water Scarcity, Climate Change and Conflict in the Middle East (2018). as well as of numerous studies and articles, most recently on water scarcity in Viet Nam and Indonesia, and of a monograph on desalination. Sandra Meryl Ruckstuhl is a scholar and researcher who specializes in water and natural resource management, conflict and peacebuilding. She holds a MSc and PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from the Carter School at George Mason University. She is the co-author of Water Scarcity, Climate Change and Conflict in the Middle East (I.B.Tauris, 2018). She is currently Special Advisor and Senior Researcher at the International Water Management Institute.