Middle East and North Africa Network of Water Centers of Excellence

MENA

ICBA is a member of the Middle East and North Africa Network of Water Centers of Excellence (MENA NWC). Launched in 2011, the MENA NWC is an association of research and educational institutions that work collaboratively with many stakeholders to resolve long-standing water issues, specifically: water efficiency and productivity, groundwater, non-conventional water, water-energy-food nexus, and water supply and sanitation.  

With over 23 members, the network aims to provide a collective voice that enables it to actively engage with other regional and international networks and policymakers. MENA NWC members are: 

  • Ain Shams University (ASU)
  • An Najah University (ANU), Water and Environmental Studies Institute
  • Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA)
  • Arabian Gulf University (AGU)
  • Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU)
  • Cadi Ayyad University (UCA)
  • Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Science Hassan II  (IAV)
  • International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)
  • International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA)
  • International Institute for Water and Sanitation, National Office of Electricity and Potable Water (ONEE-IEA)
  • International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
  • Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST)
  • Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC)
  • National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE)
  • National Research Institute for Rural Engineering, Water, and Forestry (INRGREF)
  • Pan African University Institute of Water and Energy Sciences (PAUWES)
  • Qatar Foundation Research & Development (QF R&D)
  • Royal Scientific Society (RSS)
  • Sana’a University, Water and Environment Center (WEC)
  • Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Water Research Center
  • Technion Israel Institute of Technology (GWRI), Grand Water Research Institute
  • University of Basrah (UOB), Marine Science Center
  • University of Jordan (UJ), Water, Energy and Environment Center

MENA NWC serves to identify relevant policy interventions, new management practices and technologies, and innovative public-private partnerships that will improve water and food security in the region. This is made possible by leveraging the strength of members and the thematic expertise experiences that they bring to the network. 

In addition to extensive first-hand knowledge and experience of the farming systems of the Middle East, North Africa, Gulf states and West and Central Asia, ICBA brings to the network its core expertise in the management of marginal land and water, specifically its expertise in irrigation system management, improved crop management practices under marginal conditions, water modeling and early drought warning system.