The aim of this study is to assess the productivity change of the banks of the MENA region using a DEA-based Malmquist productivity index approach. For this purpose, we apply the model separately on59 conventional banks and22 Islamic banks. Concerning the conventional banks, the results show that they have recorded a slight productivity progress over the study period with an increase of 0,1%, due mainly to a technological progress with an increase of 0,4%; they have registered the highest average productivity increase in 2019-2020 with a growth of 3,2% and the highest regression in 2018-2019 with a decline of 1,7%. Over the period 2017-2021, we find that one bank of Egypt has registered the highest productivity increase with an increase of 19,7%, due mainly to technological progress, and one bank of Kuwait has registered the highest productivity decline with a regression of 24,9%. We also obtain that over the study period, 51% of conventional banks has recorded a productivity progression; the Banks of Egypt have registered on average the highest productivity progress with an increase of 3,3%, due mainly to a technological progress; the banks of Kuwait have recorded the highest productivity decline with a regression of 5,9%. Concerning the Islamic banks, the results show that over the study period, they have on average recorded a productivity decline with a regression of 0,9%;they have registered on average the highest productivity increase in the period 2019-2020 with an increase of 8,9%; the highest regression with a decline of 1,7%. We also find that over the study period one Islamic bank of Oman has registered the highest productivity increase with a progression of 36,9% and one Islamic bank of Morocco has registered the highest productivity decline with a regression of 36,3%. Other results show that 64% of Islamic banks has recorded a productivity progress over the study period and the banks of Oman have registered the highest productivity progress with an increase of 36,39%; while the banks of Morocco have recorded the highest productivity decline with a regression of 15,3%, due mainly to technological regression and efficiency scale decline.

About 70% of Cameroon’s population depends on agriculture and this agriculture is mostly rainfed. Climatic changes which are characterized by irregular precipitation, prolonged dry season in certain agro-ecological zones, and changes in national agricultural policies requires a new strategy for managing water resources. This new water management strategy will not only make farming more profitable but also reduce poverty, hunger and malnutrition. The methodology of this work consist of preparing a climatic water balance sheet consisting of different inputs (rainfall data) and outputs (evapotranspiration data), and evaluating the available water stocked in the dams of Mbakaou, Mape and Bamendjin.
The results of this study shows that the Sudano-Sahelian zone has a negative climatic water balance sheet (NCWBS), while the other agroecological zones have a positive climatic water balance sheet (PCWBS).It also shows that in areas with positive CWBS, water shortage periods appear mostly in the dry season. During this period, the behavior of the water reserves in the impoundment dams also changes in line with precipitation.Dams are heavily supplied during the rainy season and are poorly supplied during the dry season.The capacity to manage and conserve water resources in Cameroon's various agro-ecological zones depends on development choices and our ability to cope with climate change.

In this paper, we applied the Data Envelopment Analysis model under the assumption of variable returns to scale and according to the output orientation to measure the efficiency of banks belonging to 12 countries of the MENA region over the period 2017-2021. We have divided the banks into two categories, conventional banks comprising 59 banks belonging to 11 countries and Islamic banks comprising 22 banks belonging to 7 countries. Regarding the 59 conventional banks, the results showed that the percentage of CCR-efficient conventional banks is low and does not exceed 16% and the average score of CCR-efficiency reached 90% over the study period. We also found that Qatar is the only country whose conventional banks are BCC-efficient during the 5 years and that their CCR-efficiency scores are the highest while the conventional banks of Morocco and Jordan have the lowest mean CCR-efficiency scores. Concerning the 22 Islamic banks, the results showed that the percentage of CCR-efficient Islamic banks is low and does not exceed 14% and that their average CCR-efficiency score reached an average of 64%. We also found that Qatar is the only country whose Islamic banks are on average CCR-efficient during the 5 years and that Islamic banks in Morocco have the lowest average CCR-efficiency score reaching 36%.

The random nature of the values describing the parameters of the loads acting on the steel structures of cranes during operation leads to the introduction of probabilistic methods in engineering strength calculations. The probabilistic calculation method has been most widely used in the design of steel structures for tower cranes and other construction machinery. It is important to extend probabilistic methods to the steel structures of heavy and large cranes, such as overhead cranes weighing 1000 tonnes or more. In addition, the large dimensions of the steel structure mean that every single element of the crane bridge operates in a specific operating mode throughout its entire service life