Resources

This manual is prepared by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) under the United Nations Development Account project on “Enhancing resilience and sustainability of agriculture in the Arab region”. This manual aims at assisting trainers and extension workers to deliver to the farmers effective training courses on rainwater harvesting in the Arab region. It focuses on micro-catchment techniques, which are systems implemented in fields and farms, to enhance growing field crops, fruit trees, and pasture shrubs. These systems allow the storage of water in the soil’s roots area and represent a simple and affordable method for rainwater harvesting while providing supplementary water for the plants.

The manual provides trainers with information, practical guidelines, and examples, enabling them to train non-specialists on designing, implementing, and managing these practices in agriculture. It includes a general description of different systems adopted and provides information on technical criteria specific for each system to help farmers choose the most appropriate one for each site and crop. Additionally, the guide provides detailed and simplified steps for the design and the implementation of these systems along with three examples of micro-catchment systems that are applied for the three main crops in the Arab countries: rangeland shrubs, fruit trees, and field crops.