eAtlas of Climate Change in Iraq and Jordan

Project "Improving food security and climate change adaptability of livestock producers using the Rainfed Barley-based system in Iraq and Jordan" (IFAD Grant 1240-ICARDA)

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النسخة العربية

Implementation Team:

National Partners:

Climate Change Maps

NCARE, Jordan

Ms. Muna Saba

Ms. Wafaa Abu Hammour

Ms. Safaa Aljaafreh

University of Mosul, Iraq

Mr. Sabah Ali

 

Land Suitability Maps

NCARE, Jordan

Ms. Safa Mazahreh

Ms. Doaa Abu Hamour

ICARDA:

Dr. Eddy De Pauw (Methods and Documentation)

Dr. Chandrashekhar Biradar (eAtlas Conceptualization)

Mr. Jalal Eddin Omary (Website Development)

Ms. Layal Atassi and Mr. Fawaz Tulaymat (Training Support)

Dr. Nasri Haddad (Project Management)

FOREWORD:

This Digital Atlas (or ‘eAtlas’) presents a visual synthesis of the climate change assessment studies that were undertaken in Iraq and Jordan in the context of the IFAD-funded and ICARDA-implemented project “Improving food security and climate change adaptability of livestock producers using the rainfed barley-based system in Iraq and Jordan”.  Launched in January 2011, this project was one of the earliest to be implemented within IFAD’s project portfolio of its new Climate Change Strategy, which aims to mitigate the potential negative impacts of climate change on the rural poor.

The overarching objective of this project was to improve awareness of climate change for policy makers and communities and of the promising agricultural technologies that are relevant for adapting to climate change. This awareness can certainly not be taken for granted. Although global climatological studies predict drier and hotter climate for the region, with more frequent climatic extreme events (drought, heat waves, and floods), an understanding of how these macro-level trends can be interpreted at the local level is rather limited. Therefore the specific challenges posed by climate change for Iraq and Jordan, in particular for their rural communities, need to be understood. A better awareness of the expected climate change effects - decrease in rainfall, increase in temperature and evapotranspiration, and shorter growing seasons - and, importantly, where exactly these changes are likely to take place, are essential for planning suitable adaptation measures.

The project was built on the extensive drylands experience of ICARDA and its national partners. Its innovative aspect was to underpin the use of appropriate dryland technologies and practices adapted to climate change by a solid foundation and assessment provided through a Geoinformatics framework. Under the scientific and technical supervision of ICARDA staff, provided through ICARDA's Geoinformatics Unit (GU), the climate change assessments for Iraq and Jordan were compiled in the form of Climate Change Atlases by national staff from both the countries. The Climate Change Atlas for Iraq was produced with the joint collaboration of the staff of the University of Mosul and the Department of Agriculture of Ninevah Province. The Climate Change Atlas for Jordan was produced with the joint collaboration of the staff of the National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE).

Re-packaging of this extensive map collection into an eAtlas format intends to facilitate user-friendly access and visualization for wider distribution of the project outputs through a web portal. The eAtlas portal (new URL) is enriched with documentation which clearly describes each map series, its production and background layers as well as conclusions drawn from them.  It is hoped that this outcome of a successful collaboration between IFAD, ICARDA and the National Agricultural Research Systems of Iraq and Jordan will provide useful ideas on how farming communities in both the countries can cope with the consequences of climate change.

 

Mahmoud El Solh

ICARDA DG