Stephen Fragaszy

• MSc (Distinction) Water Science, Policy & Management (University of Oxford School of Geography and the Environment)
• Consultant at Independent

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states rely on food imports and are exposed to food price and supply risks such as occurred during the 2006-2008 and 2011-2012 food crises. Food insecurity is a salient political issue in the region especially in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. This study explores futures markets' performance as food price risk-...

This article presents the Liwa Oasis as a hydrosocial territory. It is defined by its natural resource, social, economic, and political context and we show how these manifest in policy and practice. The article identifies these components through analysis of the political economy of water management and agricultural production systems. Two distinct...

There is growing recognition that multiple forms of uncertainty influence policy reform, but we need case studies illustrating how uncertainties influence reform, and strategies used to manage uncertainties in practice. We present a case study of how science was generated and incorporated into national water policy. We estimated turbidity (suspende...

This paper presents the Composite Drought Indicator (CDI) that Jordanian, Lebanese, Moroccan, and Tunisian government agencies now produce monthly to support operational drought management decision making, and it describes their iterative co-development processes. The CDI is primarily intended to monitor agricultural and ecological drought on a sea...

The book brings together a range of leading scholars and practitioners to compile an international account of water allocation policies supporting a transition to sustainable water use in regions where agriculture is the dominant water use. In Section 1, the collection canvasses five key crosscutting issues shaping the challenge of sustainable wate...

This paper presents the Composite Drought Indicator (CDI) that Jordanian, Lebanese, Moroccan, and Tunisian governments now produce monthly, and it describes their iterative co-development processes. The CDI is primarily intended to monitor agricultural and ecological drought on a seasonal time scale. It uses remote sensing and modelled data inputs,...

Jobbins, G.; Belhaj Fraj, M.; Fragaszy, S.; Ghanim, A.; Al-Karablieh, E.; Fakih, M.; Yessef, M.; Khatabi, A.; Hayes, M.; Knutson, C.; Jedd, T.; Svoboda, M.; Ruckstuhl, S.; McDonnell, R. 2022. Synthesis of MENAdrought development of drought mitigation, preparedness and response management plans.

In Jordan, droughts have significant social and economic impacts on vulnerable and marginal farming communities including smallholder producers of cereals on rainfed lands, livestock integrators and transhumant herders, as well as smallholder greenhouse farms and commercial agribusinesses. Farmers need access to affordable financial products to mit...

This report (Pillar 1) synthesizes the development of drought monitoring, early warning and seasonal forecasting tools and capabilities in the MENAdrought project countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco. It focuses on how the MENAdrought team and national partners collaboratively and iteratively developed, tested, refined, applied and enabled the...

Farajalla, N.; Abi Ammar, R.; Nassar, L.; Abou Dagher, M.; Kharma, E.; Machmouchi, F.; Hachem Majdalani, C.; Yazbek, C.; Zaarour, N.; Maadat, A.; Belhaj Fraj, M.; Fragaszy, S.; Ruckstuhl, S.

Fragaszy, S.; Fraj, M. B.; McKee, M.; Jobbins, G.; Al-Karablieh, E.; Bergaoui, K.; Ghanim, A.; Lawrenson, L.; McDonnell, R. 2022. MENAdrought synthesis of drought vulnerability in Jordan: final report. Project report prepared by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) for the Bureau for the Middle East of the United States Agency for In...

Fragaszy, S.; Fraj, M. B.; McKee, M.; Jobbins, G.; Fayad, A.; Fakih, M.; Lawrenson, L.; McDonnell, R. 2022. MENAdrought synthesis of drought vulnerability in Lebanon: final report. Project report prepared by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) for the Bureau for the Middle East of the United States Agency for International Developme...

A method for objectively estimating reference states for suspended fine sediment (turbidity) is presented. To be fit for water policy development and implementation the method had to satisfy four requirements: (1) the method must not be dependent on data from minimally-disturbed reference sites; (2) the method must facilitate characterization of re...

The Middle East and North Africa region experiences severe socioeconomic and political impacts during droughts and faces increasing drought risk in future climate projections. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Sendai Framework and the International Drought Management Programme provide a global standard (a norm) to manage droughts through...

When drought hits water-scarce regions, there are significant repercussions for food and water security, as well as serious issues for the stability of broader social and environmental systems. To mitigate these effects, environmental monitoring and early warning systems aimed at detecting the onset of drought conditions can facilitate timely and e...

Drought, the most common and costliest natural hazard, has significant human, economic and environmental impacts. If not properly prepared for, drought can amplify poverty, reduce human wellbeing and act as a threat multiplier. The challenge for communities and countries is reflected in drought's spatial and temporal distribution, extent and intens...

In New Zealand, intensifying agricultural production, particularly in the Canterbury and Heretaunga Plains, has led to groundwater overabstraction. Aquifer connectivity to lowland streams results in decreased streamflow with concomitant impacts on nutrient concentrations and other relevant factors for indigenous flora and fauna. Recent legislative...

Groundwater use and governance in Abu Dhabi - http://gw-mena.iwmi.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/Rep.13-Groundwater-use-and-policies-in-Abu-Dhabi-Emirate.pdf

https://gw-mena.iwmi.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/Rep.15-Groundwater-governance-in-Liwa-oasis-report_final_cover.pdf By providing an integrated case study of groundwater, utilization in the Emirate, this report aims to accomplish the following goals: I. Review the baseline physical parameters of local groundwater resources; II. Describe...

ABSTRACT: This study examines the socioeconomic features that underpin the expansion of groundwater -dependent irrigation in Northern State, Sudan. Groundwater development in the region serves as an economic lifeline given the poor Nile-based irrigation infrastructure and future changes in Nile hydrology. Groundwater-dependent irrigation is found...

The Dongola region of Northern State, Sudan, relies on groundwater for irrigated agriculture. Stable isotope and geochemical analyses find even deep wells more than 20km from the Nile exhibit signs of modern Nile influence indicating that with effective management,groundwater resources can be abstracted sustainably,and also that agricultural impact...

Iran lay at the confluence of two major themes driving post-WWII history: the rise of oil as a vital military and economic resource and American resistance to nationalist political movements in the developing world. Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadegh was elected in 1951 by supporters of a wide swathe of conservative and liberal reformists with a man...