Egyptian national action program to combat desertification

The current NAP of Egypt is formulated to comprise of four parts, each of which geared to address and focus on the specific attributes of the four agro-ecological zones distinguished in Egypt, priorities of action and striking desertification processes. Each part constitutes relevant chapters concerned with natural resources (their physiographic setting), agriculture, desertification (factors and causes, impacts, monitoring and assessment, previous and ongoing activities), topics and aspects of national action programme (policy, strategy, legislations, capacity building, early warning network, alleviation or eradication of poverty, population and demographic problems including migration and immigration, desertifcation maps and data base, response of communities), general and anticipated constraints as well as conclusions and recommendations updating to suite the NAP implementation. Beside, nineteen projects concerned with the four agroecological zones had been prepared. 

It is hoped that the NAP would facilitate the investigation and identification of appropriate techniques, capacity building needs, participating stakeholders, required legislations, economics tools, incentives, finance, as well as social implications. This approach would also help to define institutional setups and responsible parties and facilitate the identification of suitable indicators for desertification processes, as well as, appropriate techniques for monitoring ongoing and future desertification processes in each of these agroecological zones. Moreover, it may also ensure the identification of the most profitable projects, research needs and public awareness campaigns geared and tailored for the needs of each agro-ecological zone.