Prospects for agricultural production and food deficits in West Asia and North Africa : the role of high-elevation areas

This report examines the status and prospects for agricultural development in these high-elevation areas. It begins by describing the region"s unique ecological and socioeconomic features and how they have helped widen the gap between food demand and domestic supply. It then explores the sources of agricultural growth, noting the rapidly shrinking potential for "horizontal" expansion and stressing the increasing importance of using available technology, multiple cropping, and reduction of fallow wherever feasible (the dearth of funds for research and extension in the region make adoption of new technology an unlikely source of growth). Agricultural growth will also require price adjustments and increased attention to infrastructure linking agriculture and other sectors. Highlighting the need for a holistic approach to increasing production in the region (especially of key crops such as wheat and pulses), the paper supports a move away from the current unrealistic emphasis on food self-sufficiency toward food security by exploiting the comparative advantages of agroecological zones through increased intra- and interregional trade. It admits that this will require major policy shifts in land use and production patterns and will increase the importance of providing market-competitive produce.