Cairo, Egypt Date 20 January, 2015

Concept Note

Regional meeting for the Near East and North Africa on the Regional Initiative

“Sustainable Small Scale Agriculture for Inclusive Development”

2 – 3 March, 2015

Introduction: The overall objective of the Regional Initiative Sustainable Small-Scale Agriculture

for Inclusive Development will be to support countries to reduce rural poverty in the region

through a cohesive programme addressing small-scale agriculture development. In line with

FAOs new Strategic Framework and Country Programme Frameworks, the Regional Initiative will

provide a cohesive framework to better support countries and value ongoing and future

activities.

Objectives of the Meeting: The FAO Regional office for the Near East (RNE) in collaboration with

the Manager and team of the Regional Initiative “Sustainable small scale agriculture for inclusive

development (SSA)” will organize a Regional Meeting to be held in Cairo on 2 and 3 March 2015.

Building on the lessons learnt from the first year of implementation of the Regional Initiative,

this meeting will bring together Government and FAO Representatives from NENA focus

countries to exchange ideas, build ownership and agree on the way forward for the Regional

Initiative on small scale agriculture. The main objectives of the meeting are to:

- Present the main components and approach of the Regional Initiative;

- Share and review focus countries priorities in relation to the Regional Initiative;

- Identify and agree on priority activities to be implemented in 2015;

- Identify and commit contributions of FAO regional and sub-regional technical staff to the

Initiative;

- Discuss and agree on the terms of reference of a regional study on small scale agriculture to

be carried out by CIRAD/CIHEAM (Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche

Agronomique pour le Développement et le Centre international de Hautes Etudes

Agronomiques Méditerranéennes).

Expected Outcomes:

- Priority activities in the focus countries defined for the year 2015.

- Agree on the candidate countries to be considered for the biennium.

- Agree on FAO support arrangement to the RI.

- Endorse the TORs of the regional study to be conducted by CIRAD/CIHEAM.

Participants:

Focus countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan.

Candidate countries: Iran, Jordan, KSA, Mauritania, and Oman.

- 3 people/focus country and Mauritania (FAOR and 2 from the country counterpart) - Only the FAOR for the candidate countries - 3 people from SNE (Benoit, Mohamed, and Donia)

- Several people from RNE (including Technical officers) - 2 participants from CIRAD