Drought and food security in the middle east: An analytical framework

Hameed, Maysoun Ayad; Ahmadalipour, Ali; Moradkhani, Hamid

doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.107816

Cited by 87 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…These changes will be intensified by climate change in some regions (Kirtman et al, 2013). This jeopardizes water and food security, especially in developing countries with highly agricultural-oriented economies (Vaghefi et al, 2019;Hameed et al, 2020). In this context, a lack of reliable precipitation information, which is key to monitor these water dynamics, has been a serious barrier for supporting decision-makers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of precipitation datasets against local observations in southwestern Iran

Maraghi

Rakhshandehroo

Berg

et al. 2020

Intl Journal of Climatology

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This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of a great variety of state-of-theart precipitation datasets against gauge observations over the Karun basin in southwestern Iran. In particular, we consider (a) gauge-interpolated datasets (GPCCv8, CRU TS4.01, PREC/L, and CPC-Unified), (b) multi-source products (PERSIANN-CDR, CHIRPS2.0, MSWEP V2, HydroGFD2.0, and SM2RAIN-CCI), and (c) reanalyses (ERA-Interim, ERA5, CFSR, and JRA-55). The spatiotemporal performance of each product is evaluated against monthly precipitation observations from 155 gauges distributed across the basin during the period 2000-2015. This way, we find that overall the GPCCv8 dataset agrees best with the measurements. Most datasets show significant underestimations, which are largest for the interpolated datasets. These underestimations are usually smallest at low altitudes and increase towards more mountainous areas, although there is large spread across the products. Interestingly, no overall performance difference can be found between precipitation datasets for which gauge observations from Karun basin were used, versus products that were derived without these measurements, except in the case of GPCCv8. In general, our findings highlight remarkable differences between state-of-the-art precipitation products over regions with comparatively sparse gauge density, such as Iran. Revealing the best-performing datasets and their remaining weaknesses, we provide guidance for monitoring and modelling applications which rely on high-quality precipitation input.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of precipitation datasets against local observations in southwestern Iran

Maraghi

Rakhshandehroo

Berg

et al. 2020

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…That scenario has focused researchers and international organizations on the need to ensure adequate food production, to feed the growing population. A plethora of recent studies have projected situations for the coming years, especially in economically less developed regions such as the Middle East [ 3 ] and Latin America [ 4 , 5 ], but also in “rich” countries [ 6 ]. Climate change is probably the most important factor endangering agricultural production, especially in Mediterranean and African regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Beginner’s Guide to Osmoprotection by Biostimulants

Jiménez-Árias

García-Machado

Morales-Sierra

et al. 2021

Plants

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Water is indispensable for the life of any organism on Earth. Consequently, osmotic stress due to salinity and drought is the greatest threat to crop productivity. Ongoing climate change includes rising temperatures and less precipitation over large areas of the planet. This is leading to increased vulnerability to the drought conditions that habitually threaten food security in many countries. Such a scenario poses a daunting challenge for scientists: the search for innovative solutions to save water and cultivate under water deficit. A search for formulations including biostimulants capable of improving tolerance to this stress is a promising specific approach. This review updates the most recent state of the art in the field.

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“…In some parts (e.g. in Egipt) the enormous population pressure exists, causing policy orientation on maximizing food production at the expense of environmental disruptions [65]. Intensively-managed irrigated systems in these areas cause diminishing of water reservoirs [66].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic Factors Affecting the Vegetation Dynamics in the Arid Middle East

Rousta¹,

Ólafsson²,

Zhang³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The spatiotemporal variability of vegetation in the Middle East was investigated for the period 2001–2019 using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 16-day/500 m composites of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI; MOD13A1). The results reveal a strong increase in the NDVI coverage in the Middle East during the study period (R = 0.75, p-value = 0.05). In Egypt, the annual coverage exhibits the strongest positive trend (R = 0.99, p-value = 0.05). In Turkey, both the vegetation coverage and density increased from 2001 to 2019, which can be attributed to the construction of some of the biggest dams in the Middle East, such as the Atatürk and Ilisu dams. Significant increases in the annual coverage and maximum and average NDVI in Saudi Arabia are due to farming in the northern part of the country for which groundwater and desalinated seawater are used. The results of this study suggest that the main factors affecting the vegetation coverage in the Middle East are governmental policies. These policies can have a positive effect on the vegetation coverage in some countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran, and Turkey.

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Drought and food security in the middle east: An analytical framework

Cited by 87 publications

References 63 publications

Evaluation of precipitation datasets against local observations in southwestern Iran

Evaluation of precipitation datasets against local observations in southwestern Iran

A Beginner’s Guide to Osmoprotection by Biostimulants

Anthropogenic Factors Affecting the Vegetation Dynamics in the Arid Middle East

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