Research for development in the dry Arab region: The cactus flower

This book summarizes and reflects upon ten years of participatory action research in an isolated community in northeastern Lebanon. The sustainable use of marginal lands project in Arsaal was originally conceived following an initial diagnosis of the situation and was designed in response to the identification of conflicts over the use of limited and degraded land and water resources on communally managed lands. The most important conflict, dated back some 30 years when one member of the community experimented with growing fruit trees in what was traditionally a pastoral grazing area. The experiment worked and spread. Enclosure of fruit growing parcels soon became a source of conflict between fruit growers and pastoralists, who increasingly witnessed restrictions on their flocks' movement and limited access to some of their best pastures. A number of community development constraints were identified, largely linked to Arsaal's isolation: lack of access to agricultural extension knowledge and services as well as to markets for fruit products and women's handicrafts, in addition to poor soil conditions, limited access to water and loss of biodiversity. This book examines the agriculture of the Arab countries: pasture and problems with drylands; development initiatives, gender; conflict resolution; livelihoods; participation; policy and capacity building; research and natural resource management. Examination is made of the situation in the mountains of Lebanon, in particular, the highlands of Arsaal.