The Middle East Regional Agricultural Programme (MERAP) is a joint co-operation among the four Middle Eastern countries of Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. The Programme is funded by the Danish Government and co-funded by the co-operating countries. Phase I of the Programme commenced in early 1999. Due to the political situation during the past years there have been delays. However, the Programme remained always active. By June 2005 the first phase will come to an end, while a Phase II Programme has in principle been agreed and is expected to commence in July 2005 covering a 5-year period. The main objective of the Programme is to increase and strengthen the regional co-operation between the agricultural organisations/institutions of the partner countries and to improve the productivity of the agricultural resource base in the region focusing on the effective linkage between applied research, extension and training based on know-how already available in the region. Partner institutions involved are: Ministries of Agriculture and Agricultural Research Centers in Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, as well as the Foreign Ministry in Denmark (Danida) and in Israel (Mashav) The main components of MERAP identified as priority areas (programs) by the co-operating partners are:
MERAP is governed by a Steering Committee, which is comprised of two representatives from each country ( Denmark, Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Palestinian Authority). The Steering Committee is responsible for the overall management, implementation and monitoring of the Programme. National Co-ordinators appointed by each country are responsible for the day-to-day operations of programme implementation. Regional task forces for each component plan and implement activities once they are approved by the Steering Committee. Each country appoints two members for each of the task forces. |