Al Murunah

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the most water-scarce region in the world. Throughout the MENA region both surface and groundwater resources, two-thirds of which are transboundary, are under pressure and over exploited because of increasing demand. This context manifests a complex political economy for building water security, which will be exacerbated by climate extremes. Agriculture is by far the largest user of water and is a major cause of depleted aquifers, rivers and reservoirs. Unsustainable land management practices, including mechanized mono-agriculture and overgrazing, have severely degraded large areas of land, reducing rainwater retention and infiltration and increasing surface runoff and erosion. Climate change will continue to escalate the challenges of future water resource management by, amongst other things, increasing water demand and increasing the frequency and severity of droughts and floods.

Al Murunah (December 2021-March 2029) aims to increase water security in the MENA region through the integration of Nature Based Solutions for Water (NBSW) and Agricultural Water Management (AWM) in the face of climate change and land degradation. The central premise of this project is that appropriately designed on-the-ground NBSW and AWM interventions can, in tandem, enhance water security in the agricultural regions of the Middle East, thereby increasing the resilience of households and communities. The program will strengthen, empower and catalyze national capacities for the implementation and up-scaling of integrated NBSW/AWM.

Al Murunah+ (April 2025- March 2027) enhances the core Al-Murunah project by promoting positive and equitable gender norms in households and communities, and by ensuring that women and men participate equally in growing, sustaining and sharing incomes, as well as in developing and implementing resilient, climate-smart solutions in agriculture and natural resource management.

Al Murunah and Al Murunah+ are integrated into FCDO’s regional PHENOMENAL program and IWMI’s regional initiatives – Wiqaya and Jahez– that collectively advance nature-based solutions for climate resilience. Together, they represent a coordinated regional approach, rather than isolated, stand-alone efforts.