This book presents recent lessons learned in the context of research and development for various dryland ecosystems, focusing on water resources management, land and vegetation cover degradation and remediation, and socioeconomic aspects, as well as integrated approaches to ensuring water and land security in view of the current and predicted climate change. As water and land are the essential bases of food production, the management of these natural resources is becoming a cornerstone for the development of dryland populations. The book gathers the peer-reviewed, revised versions of the most outstanding papers on these topics presented at the ILDAC2015 Conference in Djerba, Tunisia.

This book is about the main lessons to be learnt from new approaches to soil and water conservation in sub-Saharan Africa. It presents six case studies, two each from Burkina Faso, Kenya and Mali, where soil and water conservation, based on the participation of the local people, has resulted in some success.

Dry areas suffer not only from limited rainfall but also ‘natural leakage’—90% of rainwater is lost directly or indirectly, and is unavailable for agriculture or domestic use. Water harvesting is a low-cost, easy-to-use, environmentally-friendly way to recover a large part of this lost water. How does water harvesting work? Which sites or areas are best suited and how can these areas be identified? How to design, build and maintain a water harvesting system tailored to local needs? How can water harvesting contribute to combating land degradation, enhancing food security and adapting to climate change? This book provides the answers. The book is based on many years of research, training and development by three of the world’s leading experts in water management and agriculture. It is authoritative, comprehensive, and easy to read, containing practical examples, many illustrations and little jargon. This volume will be of great interest to researchers, development workers, farmers, policymakers, students of the natural sciences—in fact, anyone interested in efficient, sustainable management of water resources and agriculture.

In order to provide water security in the twenty-first century, there is universal agreement that a continuation of current policies and extrapolation of trends is not an option. Also clear is that from both water supply and development perspectives, the world's arid and semi-arid regions are those currently and potentially experiencing the highest water stresses. One third of the world's land surface is classified as arid or semi-arid, and about half of all countries are directly affected in some way by problems of aridity. The hydrology of arid and semi-arid areas is also known to be substantially different from that in more humid regions. It is therefore essential that investigation methods appropriate to the former are developed and applied, and that strategies for arid and semi-arid region water resources development recognise the principal characteristics of in-situ hydrological processes.

First Published in 2008. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Halophytes for Food Security in Dry Lands addresses the concerns surrounding global food scarcity, especially focusing on those living in arid and dry lands The book touches on food crises in dry regions of the world and proposes halophytes as an alternate source of consumption for such areas. Halophytes, those plants that thrive in saline soil and provide either food source options themselves, or positively enhance an eco-system’s ability to produce food, and are thus an important and increasingly recognized option for addressing the needs of the nearly 1/6 of the world’s population that lives in these arid and semi-arid climates. Including presentations from the 2014 International Conference on Halophytes for Food Security in Dry Lands, this book features insights from the leading researchers in the subject. It is a valuable resource that includes information on the nutritional value of halophytes, their genetic basis and potential enhancement, adaption of halophytes, and lessons learned thus far. Provides comprehensive coverage of the importance and utilization of halophytes to compensate the demand of food in whole world especially in the dry regions Contains insights from ecological to molecular fields Includes edible halophytes as well as those that enhance food-producing eco-systems Presents information for improving abiotic stress tolerance in plants