Desertification combat and food safety : the added value of camel producers. Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, 19-21 April 2004, Ashgabad, Turkmenistan

This publication brings together desert and camel scientists from Western European countries, Mediterranean countries and Central Asian Republics. Scientists from Central Asia are confronted with the demanding challenge of desertification and maintenance of animal productivity in order to satisfy human requirements both in quantity and quality. The problem is complex and solutions need a multidisciplinary investment. The knowledge of the desertification process and the place of animal production in desert ecosystem is in increasing in many countries. New approaches and methodologies have been implemented for a better observation and understanding of the situation. Desertification Combat and Food Safety contributes to the exchange between scientists in order to allow access to those new approaches and methodologies by all desert and camel scientists in the involved countries. Most contributors are well-known in the camel sciences community. All of them have significantly contributed to a better understanding of camel biology, camel productivity or of the camel as an element of the desert ecosystem. The confrontation of the research achieved in those countries with the scientific activities achieved in Central Asia is quite important. It contributes to the improvement of the methods used in those countries and at the very least helps the scientists from Central Asia to access more recent publications and to reach the international standard for publications. (Résumé d'auteur