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Conventional tillage coupled with monocropping and limited recycling of crop residues along with increased pressure from human and livestock population has led to the degradation of the soil, water resources, and the environment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Conservation Agriculture (CA) considered as "climate-smart" agriculture, strives to achieve acceptable profits along with high and sustained production levels while concurrently conserving and regenerating soils and protecting the environment. The objectives of this paper are to review and synthesize available findings on CA, its past trends, current opportunities and challenges, evidence on potential benefits from its adaptation, to discuss its future outlook, and to make relevant recommendations for interventions and novel research needs for its wider diffusion in the region. In MENA, major research on CA has been mainly conducted in Morocco, Tunisia, Iran, and Syria, while Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt embarked CA research fairly recently. About 25-40% out of the 53 million hectares total arable land is estimated to be suitable for CA in the region. In recent years a growing number of studies carried under a range of climatic, soil, management and cropping conditions in many countries of MENA reported several benefits including higher and more stable yields and profits, reduced risks of crop loss, labor requirements, soil erosion, and improved soil moisture and quality under CA system. Despite its benefits, adoption of CA in MENA is still very low for various reasons including: lack of affordable and well-adapted seeders, the complexity of the CA system which posed a major challenge for mostly uneducated farmers to comprehend, ill-conceived policies that promote cereal intensification hence inadvertently promote monocropping, tradeoffs between residue retention and livestock feed, lack of adequate policy and institutional framework and incentives to enhance farmers' adoption, and the private sector's active involvement in the dissemination of CA. The wider acceptance of CA requires the development of affordable and versatile no-till seeder alongside the implementation of integrated crop management practices. CA-based bundled agronomic management practices must be tailored to the biophysical and socio-economic environment. Finally, effective strategies for upscaling CA in MENA has to be developed by taking into consideration the unique features of the region. Despite the daunting past adoption trends and current challenges, we predict a bright future for CA in the region due to several factors including: rising energy prices and wage rates, the emergence of younger and more educated farmers, the advent of climate change, the increasing awareness on the degradation of land and water resources among farmers and policy makers, changes in dietary preferences subsequently increasing trends in demand and prices of legumes are expected to increase the desirability of CA and enhance its wider diffusion in MENA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a SWOT analysis of SEA systems in the Middle East North Africa region through a comparative examination of the status, application and structure of existing systems based on country-specific legal, institutional and procedural frameworks. The analysis is coupled with the multi-attribute decision making method (MADM) within an analytical framework that involves both performance analysis based on predefined evaluation criteria and countries' self-assessment of their SEA system through open-ended surveys. The results show heterogenous status with a general delayed progress characterized by varied levels of weaknesses embedded in the legal and administrative frameworks and poor integration with the decision making process. Capitalizing on available opportunities, the paper highlights measures to enhance the development and enactment of SEA in the region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study objectively investigates the influence of energy conservation and substitution strategies in mitigating CO 2 emissions in the electricity generation sector in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The paper specifically explores if climate action implementation may negatively affect energy consumption on economic growth ambition and whether technical change in factor and inter-fuel substitution support in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) 7, 8 &13. This paper conducts the study under the life cycle analysis (LCA) procedure. We also apply stochastic frontier Translog production and ridge regression techniques with data for 2000–2015. The results currently show that renewable energy intensity falls below the breakeven level. Meanwhile, nonrenewable energy intensity is much higher. Furthermore, production factors and inter-fuel technological change show that capital-energy and renewable-nonrenewable energy are perfect substitutes under the electricity sector. Moreover, the findings reveal low energy efficiency of 40 percent with poor carbon performance. We, therefore, conclude that MENA region may not achieve cleaner, affordable energy and climate action concurrently with economic growth under the current production technologies by the fiscal year 2030. We further conclude that economic growth is presently inversely related to energy efficiency but positively with energy intensity. This suggests that MENA region economic growth drive is highly linked with nonrenewable consumption and also not supporting energy conservation strategies. Additionally, we conclude that energy efficiency improvement and reduction in energy intensity may not be achieved as the governments keep subsidizing electricity in the region. Besides, the more policymakers pursue economic growth through energy intensity indicators, the more energy is consumed through the energy rebound effects. Based on these findings and conclusions, we recommend insightful strategies under the electricity sector. This study adds new body of knowledge by extending Translog production to estimate energy intensity & efficiency under the LCA procedure. Scholars also contribute to data and variable modeling under the SDGs in discovering CO 2 emission mitigation in the electricity sector which could be replicated in other countries or regions. Image 1 • Higher nonrenewable energy intensity with renewable far below breakeven level. • Transition to renewable energy with 26% to improve eco-efficiency. • There is an implied full rebound effect under energy efficiency policy measures. • Mitigating CO 2 emissions from electricity sector of MENA region via energy transition. • Presently GDP inversely linked to energy efficiency but positively with energy intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: North Africa is quickly emerging as one of the more important regions yielding information on the origins of modern Homo sapiens. Associated with significant fossil hominin remains are two stone tool industries, the Aterian and Mousterian, which have been differentiated, respectively, primarily on the basis of the presence and absence of tanged, or stemmed, stone tools. Largely because of historical reasons, these two industries have been attributed to the western Eurasian Middle Paleolithic rather than the African Middle Stone Age. In this paper, drawing on our recent excavation of Contrebandiers Cave and other published data, we show that, aside from the presence or absence of tanged pieces, there are no other distinctions between these two industries in terms of either lithic attributes or chronology. Together, these results demonstrate that these two ‘industries’ are instead variants of the same entity. Moreover, several additional characteristics of these assemblages, such as distinctive stone implements and the manufacture and use of bone tools and possible shell ornaments, suggest a closer affinity to other Late Pleistocene African Middle Stone Age industries rather than to the Middle Paleolithic of western Eurasia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Barnacles of the species Pollicipes pollicipes are crustaceans that nowadays live on wave-beaten rocky substrates in the intertidal and low-shore zones on the coasts of Atlantic Europe and North Africa. At the present time, the exploitation of this species is profitable, especially in northern Spain where this sea-food is highly valued, as well as expensive. However, the gathering of this resource, which is carried out manually by the percebeiros or “goose barnacle fishers” entails great risks. The exploitation of goose barnacles is, however, not a recent activity, as evidence of it has been seen in southwest Europe in the Mesolithic (about 8000 BP), and above all from the early Neolithic (about 6000 BP). This paper analyses the archaeological evidence of barnacles (tergum, scutum and carina, calcareous plates located in the capitulum) that have been found at one Spanish Neolithic site located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula (Los Gitanos Cave, in Cantabrian Spain). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Crested Lark has a very complex taxonomy, partly as a result of a strong variation in plumage ground color seemingly linked with environmental factors. However, large variations in body size and bill shape further complicate the situation in the Maghreb. In this paper, we first present a set of hypotheses to explain patterns of morphological variation around the Mediterranean Sea. A phylogeographical analysis covering all major biogeographical areas in the species’ range is then performed to test these scenarios. Three mtDNA groups with distinct geographical distribution were identified. The randonii clade (= G. (c.) randonii) is endemic from central Maghreb and is phylogenetically basal relative to cristata and senegallensis. These two latter groups are much more widespread. The cristata clade is found in NW Morocco, throughout Europe and W Asia and in NE Africa, while senegallensis regroups the populations sampled in the Western Sub-Saharan Africa and in NE Maghreb (E Algeria, Tunisia). A combination of genetic and paleoenvironmental evidences supports a scenario of allopatric differentiation of these two lineages outside the Maghreb, with subsequent range expansion leading to their secondary presence in the Maghreb. However, the alternative hypothesis of differentiation in two, or even three separate Maghreb refuges cannot be completely dismissed with the present data. Interestingly, the Sahara desert and the Gibraltar Strait did not act as permanent barriers to dispersal in this species. In addition, the populations in the Maghreb are consistently longer-billed than their closest relatives, suggesting a role for natural selection or phenotypic plasticity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, a new approach for mapping polygenic depressions colonised by vegetation is presented. These spatially periodic vegetation patterns situated in the arid areas of North Africa are known locally as "Dayas". The mapping of these structures is an important component in monitoring their evolution which can be regarded as an indicator of socio-environmental conditions. For this purpose, a method based on satellite image analysis is proposed. First, Landsat Thematic Mapper image inspection is performed to highlight the vegetation spots using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Then, a Differential Morphological Profile (DMP) which includes both spectral and morphological information, is built for each NDVI pixel. We adapt the F-Score technique combined with the SVM classifier, to select and classify the most effective DMP images in order to extract the Daya's signature. Using feature selection, overall classification accuracy reached 97.8% with a kappa value of 95.61 but also reduced the dimension of the DMP vector. Dayas' morphological and vegetation characteristics are related to their degree of evolution. Furthermore, we categorise categorise the 170 extracted Dayas into three classes according to their size. On the resulting map, each class corresponds to a specific morphological and vegetation evolution stage. • The established methodology allows Dayas identifying in semi-arid areas. • Differential Morphological Profile is a powerful tool for spots vegetation mapping. • Size-based classification of Dayas enables a chronological distribution. • F-Score combined with SVM for feature selection improves classification accuracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]