Mediterra 2009, entitled "Rethinking rural development in the Mediterranean" is the fruit of cooperation between CIHEAM and Blue Plan.

Awareness is growing in the Mediterranean, as in other parts of the world, of the fact that the future of the region will inevitably involve developing farming systems and rural areas.Climate change, responsible water resource management, lands dynamics, economic diversification – such are the challenges for the sustainability and competitiveness of Mediterranean farming systems. Mediterra 2009 surveys the agricultural and rural measures taken to implement the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD) and takes a fresh look at the policies pursued in rural areas.

Mediterra 2009 is a compendium of shared expertise intended as a decision-making tool. Its purpose is to provide all actors, professionals and researchers in the Euro-Mediterranean world with essential assessment criteria and strategic indicators for agricultural and rural development. Mediterra 2009 was published in French, English, Arabic, Spanish and Italian.
Table of contents:
INTRODUCTION 21
• Hunger for land and thirst for water: farming systems under pressure
• Agricultural and rural development: a political priority
• For sustainable development of farming systems and rural worlds
• A report constructed collectively
> CHAPTER 1
Preserving natural resources
• Mediterranean know-how– the fruit of thousands of years
• Water resources: a rapidly changing balance
• Slow and progressive desertification
• Polluted environments, degraded life
• Managing wooded areas
• Haro for bio!
• Development models need adapting
> CHAPTER 2
Revising water strategies
• Trend in agricultural water demand incompatible with the trend in available resources
• Better management of agricultural water demand
• Virtual water: a concept for guiding agricultural policies?
• For a comprehensive global vision of water
> CHAPTER 3
Adapting agricultural systems to climate change
• Panorama of the agricultural sector and water resources
> CHAPTER 4
Fighting desertification
• Definition and physical processes of desertification
• Monitoring desertification and the environment
• Techniques for fighting desertification
• Institutional response: monitoring and evaluating
UNCCD implementation
• Public strategies and measures taken since the 1970s 1
• Social solutions
• New strategy frameworks for fighting desertification