Frontier Agriculture for Improving Refugee Livelihoods : Unleashing Climate-Smart and Water-Saving Agriculture Technologies in MENA
Many refugee and host populations are food insecure and poor. In Syria, the UNICEF screened 2.3 million children and pregnant and lactating women for acute malnutrition. In Jordan, approximately half of the refugee households have reported reducing...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/103361524057787356/Frontier-agriculture-for-improving-refugee-livelihoods-unleashing-climate-smart-and-water-saving-agriculture-technologies-in-MENA http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29753 |
| Summary: | Many refugee and host populations are
food insecure and poor. In Syria, the UNICEF screened 2.3
million children and pregnant and lactating women for acute
malnutrition. In Jordan, approximately half of the refugee
households have reported reducing the quantity and quality
of food and skipping meals. In Lebanon, only 7 percent of
refugees are living with acceptable levels of food security.
This report shows that frontier agriculture, which comprises
climate-smart and water saving agriculture technologies,
such as hydroponics, can contribute to improve well-being,
including nutritional status for farmers and groups of
people that are less integrated into the labor market. In
the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), this includes
women, youth, and those who are forcibly displaced. Frontier
agriculture can leverage scarce resources, such as water and
arable land, and promote inclusive economic activities that
increase access to nutritious food, improve livelihoods,
create jobs, promote entrepreneurship, enhance skills, and
build social cohesion. It can also assist with building
communities and help recover from the loss of assets and
from trauma of fleeing from conflicts. There is an urgency
to engage with and support refugee livelihoods. Previous
experiences suggest that small-scale hydroponic projects
targeting vulnerable populations can be implemented rather
quickly and produce meaningful results within a short timeframe. |
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