Dr. Ismahane Elouafi – ranked by Muslim Science as among the 20 Most Influential Women in Science in the Islamic World – has been welcomed as a non-executive director on the CABI Board.

Despite the warnings about unbearable summer heat in the desert, Kyzylkum welcomed us with lovely warm weather and soothing silence. As we head deeper into the desert, a secluded road with pits becomes the only sign of human presence dividing the red desert plain surrounded by a ring of remnant hills, folded with rocks of the Paleozoic era.

With only 7 percent of agricultural land, Tajikistan is a mountainous country situated at the heart of Central Asia. The majority of its arable land is irrigated, and cotton remains an important cash crop. Before the civil war in 1992-1997, Tajikistan was an important exporter of fruits, especially high-quality apricots, almonds and pistachios.

For Mr. Odeh Al Turman, a man in his sixties, reaching the age of retirement, was not the end of the road. Rather, it was the start of another kind of job that he had always dreamed of.

The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and the Abu Dhabi Farmers' Services Centre (ADFSC) have joined forces to help farmers improve agricultural production in marginal environments, including saline areas, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Tucked between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea once had a large fishing industry. It was the fourth largest lake in the world with an area of 68,000 sq. km. But it has been drying up since the 1960s.

Like many children, Kutlimurat grew up with love for animals. When he was young, he had his own small zoo with a rooster, pigeons and rabbits. But his strict father would not let him keep them. One day, after returning from a summer camp, he found the rooster missing. “I could not hold my tears back when I saw it had been cooked for dinner,” he recalls.

Climate change and sporadic rainfall have worsened water scarcity in Jordan, especially in the areas where people rely on farming and livestock to make a living.

For many years now, residents have been leaving Al Husseinyieh District in the southern Jordanian steppe due to its desert climate, barren land and scarce water.

In recent years, Kazakhstan has been experiencing a fall in production and export of wheat, the main cash crop of the country. The decline is not only due to the reduction of cultivated areas caused by salinization, but also unusually cold spring weather.