27. Calls on the Commission to take into account the role of arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL), with a special focus on livestock, since the largest supply of meat for the more urbanised areas is provided by the ASAL regions;

They also supply between 30% and 60% of freshwater in tropical zones, a figure which rises as high as 95% for semi-arid and arid areas.

Under the Convention measures to combat desertification include action to promote the integrated development of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas to:

Less-favoured areas - Article 3(4) a) Infertile land -------------- - northern wet region: level of yield less than 30 (as measured by the fertility index of L. TURC) - arid and semi-arid regions: less than 50% arable land in farmed area. b) Poor economic conditions ------------------------ - northern wet region: standard gross margin per farm worker not more than 80% of the average for the region and less than half the national av ...[+++]erage for both utilized agricultural area (UAA) per farm and hectares per field; - arid and semi-arid regions: irrigated area less than 20% of the arable area and fallow area greater than 20% of the grassland (1) COM(86) 284 final (2) A "municipio" is the smallest administrative unit for which data is available and consists of a village.

Less-favoured areas - Article 3(4) a) Infertile land -------------- - northern wet region: level of yield less than 30 (as measured by the fertility index of L. TURC) - arid and semi-arid regions: less than 50% arable land in farmed area. b) Poor economic conditions ------------------------ - northern wet region: standard gross margin per farm worker not more than 80% of the average for the region and less than half the national av ...[+++]erage for both utilized agricultural area (UAA) per farm and hectares per field; - arid and semi-arid regions: irrigated area less than 20% of the arable area and fallow area greater than 20% of the grassland (1) COM(86) 284 final (2) A "municipio" is the smallest administrative unit for which data is available and consists of a village.

PROGRAMME CONTENTS A. Subprogramme "Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture": 1. Improvement of agricultural products - crop production: food and agro-industrial crops; crop genetics; crop protection; - proteins of animal origin: stock farming; animal genetics and reproduction; veterinary medicine; sea and inland fisheries, aquaculture; - forestry production in humid and arid areas. 2. Conservation and better use of the environment: - appraisal of resources; water resources and their use; soil management and protection, desertification and management of savannahs; underexploited genetic resources; wild flora and fauna; 3. Agricu ...[+++]ltural engineering and post-harvest technology: - agricultural engineering/mechanization; preservation of products; processing of products; 4. Production systems: - multi-disciplinary approaches relating to plan products; inter-cropping; relationships between crop- growing and stock-farming; ecologically fragile environments; B. Subprogramme "Medicine, Health and Nutrition in Tropical and Subtropical Areas" 1. Medecine: - transmissible tropical diseases: parasitological; bacterial; viral; mycological; - non-transmissible tropical diseases: genetic disorders; acquired diseases; 2. Health: - health services research: operational research; plannng management and evaluation; - environmental health: water-related diseases; traditional medicine - tropical medicinal plants; 3. Nutrition: - nutritional deficiencies; impact of agricultural, food and social-economic strategies on nutritional status; - relationships between production and storage systems, food habits and health status; - bioavailability of nutrients and their toxicology///.