Women Empowerment for Improved Research in Agricultural Development, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer in the West Asia/ North Africa Region  

The study on “Women Empowerment for Improved Research in Agricultural Development,
Innovation and Knowledge Transfer in the West Asia/North Africa Region” was commissioned by the
Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa (AARINENA). The
study aims at proposing policies to ministries of agriculture, agricultural research institutions and
extension agencies to advance the role of women working in agriculture in the region. The study
combines a desk-study with literature, internet research and field studies in Jordan, Egypt and
Tunisia. With limited resources the study team could only conduct field-research in three of the five
WANA sub-regions. The countries of the Arabian Peninsula with very limited agriculture were not
seen as a priority for this study. Pakistan, Iran and Turkey, that make up Western Asia, and have a
combined population of more than 200 Million and a high diversity of agricultural systems, would
require more than two field studies to do it justice. The focus of the study hence was on three
countries in the Mashreq, Nile Valley and the Maghreb with agricultural systems typical for the
respective sub-regions.