The argan tree (Argania Spinosa L. Skeels) is endemic to the southwestern part of Morocco, located in arid to semi-arid areas. Recently, it gained fame as a world patrimonial wealth, celebrating its international day on May 10. Argan oil is of great interest, as it is used in several cosmetic products. To better valorize this natural output, it is important to understand how well foreign consumers know argan oil and what they would pay for Argan products. As the Japanese cosmetic market is wide and remunerative, we search for the main variables that explain and increase consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for four argan-based cosmetic products in Japan. We conduct an online survey comprising 20 questions to collect data on 836 women. We perform a principal component analysis to aggregate the four singular WTPs into an overall WTP, and then run a multiple correspondence analysis to bring together the modalities that correspond to each class of WTP. Finally, we perform a log-level interval regression to model each feature and its respective impact on the WTP. The results show that knowledge of argan oil and experience of argan and vegetable oil products increase WTP significantly. This indicates the importance of “simply” communicating about argan oil and proceeding to product testing. In addition, we assess the impact of intrinsic features such as wages and interest. This may be helpful in establishing a marketing strategy.

One of the top priorities for people in arid regions to ensure their safety and comfort is the shelter and the settlement. Numerous studies have dealt with the livelihood of nomadic pastoralists of arid regions or their urban settlements; however, despite the high level of refugee arrivals and receptions in such regions, particularly in the Middle East, not much research has been devoted to their settlement and the shelter itself. This paper examines the reception of Iraqi refugees in northern Jordan in 2003 as a case study, focusing on their settlement in a camp set up in a desert area near the border. The findings reveal that although it is not conducive for camps to remain in the desert for long periods of time, the condition of the Iraqi refugees in the arid region shows that it is possible to do so by relying on aid, especially when water resources need to be secured. The study also clarifies that refugee shelters have seen little technological innovation, thus leading to reports of tents collapsing due to strong winds or being destroyed by fire. Although the primary objective of avoiding heat is achieved, challenges persist in achieving more efficient heat storage and fire resistance.

This article compares pastoral strategies on the Mongolian Plateau, which is politically divided into northern and southern parts. Beginning in the 2000s, global capital investment has brought pastoralists into the market economy more deeply through paved roads and the availability of mobile phones. At present, two main pastoral strategies coexist, each predominant in a different environment, namely, in suburban pastures and in remote pastures. In north Mongolia (=outer Mongolia), pastoral strategies changed after a nationwide disaster of extreme cold and snow from the winter of 1999 to the spring of 2002, which drastically reduced the amount of livestock. In suburban pastures that are close to cities or major roads, fewer livestock are required. As a result, the number of pastoralists who migrate into suburban pasture increased, although there had been a low density of pastoralists during socialist era. However, a significant number of pastoralists decided to remain in remote pasture. This dichotomy is also seen in south Mongolia (=inner Mongolia). Because the number of livestock that pastoralists keep is strictly controlled according to the carrying capacity set by local government, pastoralists in remote areas who generally have a greater extent of pasture keep larger number. On the other hand, pastoralists in suburban areas often acquired cash income in new ways. This phenomenon also emerged in south Mongolia after 2000s, when the central government recognized environmental problems of pastoral areas and attributed them to the overgrazing of pastoralists.

New approaches and technologies involving application of blended modern agroecological science and indigenous knowledge systems have shown to enhance food security while conserving natural resources and soil and water under stress conditions. Under hot arid zone of Thar desert Mr. Mangilal Patel, a farmer of Pali India, decided to go for agriculture innovations and convert his barren area into an integrated farm utilizing sustainable approaches. Under rainfed conditions he practiced diversified cropping systems including green gram and sesame in rainy season followed by sequential crops of chickpea and mustard as rainfed and wheat and cumin under irrigated conditions in winter season, which reduces the climate-driven crop failure as variety of crops have different management practices to climatic adaptability. His selection of crops and legumes efficiently utilized the natural resources such as land, light, water and nutrient and increase biodiversity, productivity, resilience and stability of agroecosystem. In addition, crops facing threats from the same or similar pests or requiring high nutrient inputs were not grown in bordering fields or in a sequential season in the same field. Leguminous crops have less water requirement and fix nitrogen which is beneficial to other nonlegume crops. Thus, innovative agriculture based on crop rotation model integrating different crop components produce sufficient yield by maintaining crop sequence, increasing soil fertility and manage equitable socio-economic access outcome to the poorest section of the society.

Palestinian embroidery is a craft that used to be passed down from mother to daughter, and it was employed to embellish the traditional Palestinian women’s costume called thobe. Palestinian peasants and Bedouin used to reinforce their working clothes by adding embroidery, and the patterns reflected their natural surroundings and daily life. In the early twentieth century, some skilled Palestinian women started selling the embroidery they produced. After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, many Palestinians were forcibly displaced internally or externally; women were thus no longer able to make embroidery as part of their daily routines. Subsequently, Palestinian women living in rural villages and in refugee camps began producing embroidery with non-governmental organization (NGO) support under the Israeli occupation; they did so as part of their cultural identity as Palestinians and to generate income. Today, embroidery is produced predominantly by both NGOs and cooperatives. Many embroiderers in rural villages in Ramallah are farm women, and they produce embroidery when they are not engaged in farm work. Embroiderers in refugee camps make embroidery products as their main source of income. However, there has been insufficient research on how Palestinian women produce embroidery and the role it plays in their economic independence. We conducted a fieldwork survey and online research in the Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza), and we observed differences in the production systems between NGOs and cooperatives. The NGOs undertook their activities as a form of charity: the embroiderers registered with an NGO and were fully supported by it; thus, the embroiderers simply produced embroidery and were paid according to their work. With cooperatives, however, the embroiderers participated as cooperative members and took the initiative for production. Cooperative members decided the price of products and amount of money they received. Embroiders who worked with cooperatives were more independent than those who registered with NGOs, and the creative work led to increased income.

Due to small annual rainfall and high temperature, the water resource utilized for social activities in Djibouti is almost exclusively groundwater. Groundwater is collected through shallow wells in the porous sediments of the wadis with estimated thickness of several meters to about 20 meters, and through deeper wells in the fractured zone of the basaltic base rock. The network of wadis on the surface can be recognized by satellite imagery relatively clearly, but high geological ambiguity associated with the wadis and fractures, finding new good groundwater locations is not an easy task in Djibouti. In this study, using various field data collected, we have attempted to explore groundwater potential employing numerical hydrological model together with various field survey technologies. This paper introduces the first stage trials of numerical modeling using a terrestrial fluid flow simulator GETFLOWS, in which surface/subsurface coupled flows under precipitation/evapotranspiration are treated. For the target site, we selected the Ali Faren catchment, a part of large Ambouli watershed that extends southwest of Djibouti City. The Ali Faren catchment was discretized into a three dimensional model, reflecting the shape of wadi networks and basaltic surface. Giving initial estimates of hydrogeological parameters, several trial equilibrations/calibrations were made in order to check consistency between the hydrogeological setting and the calculated subsurface water condition. Using actual records of rainfall, the model showed occasional flush floods through the wadis and infiltration at relatively heavy rainfall.