Edible plants raised by Nile's banks in arid area (5)
I believe the answer is:
negev
'arid area' is the definition.
(desert region in Israel)
'edible plants raised by nile's banks' is the wordplay.
'edible plants' becomes 'veg' (short for vegetables).
'raised' says the letters should be written backwards.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'banks' suggests removing the centre (the sides or banks of the word).
'nile' with its centre taken out is 'ne'.
'veg' reversed gives 'gev'.
'gev' after 'ne' is 'NEGEV'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for negev that I've seen before include "Wilderness" , "Desert region in Israel" , "Israeli desert area abutting Sinai" , "Semi-desert area" , "Southern Israeli desert" .)