1 Section I Presentation of the survey 3 Introduction It is in FAO’s mandate, as stated in Article 1 of its constitution, to “collect, analyse, interpret and disseminate information related to nutrition, food and agriculture”. Within this framework FAO launched in 1993 a programme known as AQUASTAT, its global information system on water and agriculture (http://www.fao.org/nr/aquastat). AQUASTAT collects, analyses and disseminates data and information, by country, on water recourses and water use, with emphasis on agriculture, which is targeted at users in international institutions, national governments and development agencies. Its goal is to support agricultural and rural development through sustainable use of water and land by providing the most accurate information presented in a consistent and standard way and more specifically: ÿ up-to-date and reliable data by country ÿ methodologies and definitions for information on the water resources and irrigation sector ÿ systematic descriptions on the state of agricultural water management by country ÿ predictions of future agricultural water use and irrigation developments ÿ in-depth analysis through diverse thematic studies ÿ contribution to major international publications ÿ answers to requests from governments, research institutions, universities, non- governmental organizations and individuals. At the time of launch, priority was given to Africa, which initiated the AQUASTAT publication series (FAO, 1995). The survey continued with the Near East (FAO, 1997a), the countries of the former Soviet Union (FAO, 1997b), South and East Asia (FAO, 1999), Latin America and the Caribbean (FAO, 2000). In 2005, the African continent was updated (FAO, 2005). Ten years after the first publication on the Near East region, it appeared necessary to update the data and to identify the main changes in water use and irrigation that had occurred there. However, the countries forming the region in this publication are not to the same as the ones in the previous publication. While in the first publication the composition of the Near East region was determined by the countries covered by FAO’s Regional Office for the Near East, it was judged more logical to follow in AQUASTAT the regional distribution given in FAO’s Water Report 23 “Review of world water resources by country” (2003). In that report the world was divided into ten large regions as shown in Figure 7. It was also decided to call the region “Middle East” rather than “Near East”, since Near East is considered to be a subregion of the Middle East. To the two objectives of the previous publication (FAO, 1997a) a third has been added in this new survey of the Middle East region: ÿ to provide for every country the most accurate status of rural water resources management, with a special focus on irrigation, by featuring major characteristics, trends, constraints and prospective changes in irrigation and in water resources; ÿ to support regional analyses by providing systematic, up-to-date and reliable information on the status of water resources and of agricultural water management that can serve as a tool for regional planning and predictive studies; ÿ to prepare a series of chronological data in order to highlight the major changes that have occurred in the last decade on national and regional scales. 4 Irrigation in the Middle East region in figures – AQUASTAT Survey 2008 To obtain the most reliable information possible, the survey is organized as follows: 1. Review of literature and existing information at country and sub-country level. 2. Collection of information by country using a detailed questionnaire filled in by national consultants, international consultants, or the AQUASTAT team at FAO. 3. Compilation and critical analysis of the information collected using data- processing software developed for this survey, and selection of the most reliable information. 4. Preparation of country profiles and submission to national authorities responsible for water resources or water management for verification, correction and approval. 5. Preparation of the final profile, the tables and the figures presenting the information by country. 6. Updating of the on-line database. 7. Preparation of the general regional analysis, the figures and the regional tables. Where possible, AQUASTAT has made use of national capacity and competence. While collecting the information by country, preference was given to national experts as they have a better knowledge of their own country and easier access to national or so-called ‘grey’ documents, which are not available outside the country. The choice of the countries for which a national consultant was recruited depended on several factors, namely: the importance of irrigation in the country; the availability of an expert; the scarcity of data observed during the previous survey; and the funds available. For about half of the countries concerned, a national consultant assisted the AQUASTAT team. 5 Country profiles Country profiles are prepared in English, which is the FAO official language in the Middle East region. They describe the state of water resources and water use in the respective countries, as well as the state of agricultural water management. The aims are to describe the particularities of each country and the problems met in the development of the water resources and, in particular, irrigation. They summarize the irrigation trends in the country and the prospects for water management in agriculture as described in the literature. The country profiles have been standardized and organized in sections according to the following model: ÿ Geography, climate and population ÿ Economy, agriculture and food security ÿ Water resources and water use ÿ Irrigation and drainage development ÿ Water management, policies and legislation related to water use in agriculture ÿ Environment and health ÿ Prospects of agricultural water management ÿ References and additional information Standardized tables are used for each country. A hyphen (-) indicates that no information is available. As most information is available only for a limited number of years, the tables present the most recent reliable information and indicate the year to which it refers. In the AQUASTAT database, however, all available information is accessible. The information in the country profiles is much more detailed than that in the first AQUASTAT survey of 1997. In order to establish a more complete picture of the agricultural water sector in each country, it addresses issues related to water and to irrigation that were not previously included. Some issues have been added in response to user demand. 7 Data collection, processing and reliability The main sources of information were: ÿ National policies, and water resources and irrigation master plans ÿ National reports, yearbooks and statistics ÿ Reports from FAO and other projects ÿ International surveys ÿ Results and publications from national and international research centres ÿ The internet. Furthermore, the following sources systematically provide certain data: ÿ FAOSTAT (http://faostat.fao.org/). This is the only source used for variables of area (total, arable land and permanent crops) and population (total, rural, urban, female, male, and economically active). An exception has been made for those countries where all the cultivated area is irrigated and where there is a difference between the AQUASTAT data related to area of irrigation and the FAOSTAT data related to cultivated area (arable land and permanent crops). In that case the data obtained by AQUASTAT through this survey are retained. FAOSTAT data on areas are provided every year by the countries through the FAO representations. ÿ World Development Indicators (http://www.worldbank.org/data/). This is the World Bank’s premier annual compilation of data on development. This source provides the data on gross domestic product (GDP). ÿ The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). These organizations provide access to data on improved water sources under their Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply & Sanitation (JMP) (www.wssinfo.org/). ÿ The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The UNDP provides the Human Development Index (HDI) (http://hdr.undp.org/statistics/data/). In total, more than 50 variables have been selected and these are presented in the national tables attached to the respective profiles. They are ordered in categories corresponding to the various sections of the profiles: characteristics of the country and population; water resources and use; and irrigation and drainage. A detailed description of each variable is given in the glossary in the next chapter. Additional tables have been added to the country profiles where information is available, especially in order to specify regional or river basin data. In most cases, a critical analysis of the information is required in order to ensure the general coherence of information collected for a given country. Where several sources result in divergent or contradictory information, preference is given to information collected at national or sub-national levels rather than at regional or world levels. Moreover, except in the case of evident errors, official sources are privileged. As regards shared water resources, the comparison of information between countries has made it possible to verify and complete the data concerning the flows of transboundary rivers and to ensure coherence at a river basin level. This information has