AURORA Webinar Series | Webinar #4 | 15 December at 5PM CET
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Brief about the talk: Agricultural development is broadly regarded as a feasible and viable approach for easing poverty as many of the poverty-stricken people in MENA region depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. However, crop and livestock production are generally coupled with degradation of natural resources, and high rates of population growth and growing food insecurity are making socio-economic development problem worse in the region.
Relieving poverty, pursuing agricultural development, and safeguarding food security for increasing populations in this region will progressively depend on intensification of land-use, as much of the arable land has already been utilized. Examples of crop alternatives and development options will be given for illustration.
Speaker’s short biography: Si Bennasseur Alaoui is a professor at the Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine Hassan II (IAV), at the Production, Protection and Biotechnology Department. He obtained the diploma of Advanced Agronomy from the National Agronomic Institute Paris-Grignon (INA-PG), France in 1982, the diploma of State Engineer in Agronomy from IAV in 1983, and a PhD from the University of Minnesota, USA in 1993. He has published several scientific and technical articles and booklets on the main crops. He also developed several software packages, on CD-ROM, to aid in the technical decision making, for winter cereals, food legumes, sugar crops and fodder crops. He contributed to several books, and he is the author of the book "Crop Rotations and Green Manure", and co-author of the book "Organic Farming Sectors: Issues and Promises for Morocco and Africa", to which was awarded the First Prize of the “Grand Prix” Hassan II for Innovation and Research in the agricultural field for 2019. Prof. Alaoui was involved in several rural development programs in Morocco and abroad for cropping systems diversification and improvement of farmer’s income, and for the contribution to poverty reduction. His current research focuses on alternative agricultural practices, including organic farming, and adaptation to climate change. He was a consultant to FAO (Egypt, Morocco, and Yemen), IFAD (Morocco, Yemen), ISESCO (Ivory Coast), GIZ (Benin, Kenya, Morocco, and Tunisia), MAMADA, MAPM, "Domaines Agricoles" in Morocco, and OSS (Tunisia). Prof. Alaoui was co-founder and Chairman (2009 to 2013) of the Moroccan Society of Agronomy (SMA).