The green revolution failed to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of halving hunger by 2015 in water-scarce regions, such as the Arab region. Most of this region is characterized by limited arable lands (less than 4.5 per cent of total area on average), poor renewable water supplies (less than 275 m3/capita/year on average)2 and semiarid or arid climatic conditions. Rain-fed agriculture accounts for around 85 per cent of the arable land, and climatic conditions are characterized by inconsistent and unpredictable rainfall.3 The average annual precipitation in the southern Mediterranean states is less than 1,000 mm, which is significantly below the evaporation potential.