I C A R D A    N e w s

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS

P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105;
E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Website: www.icarda.cgiar.org
For more information contact: Dr Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
 
 
16 June 2005
CCER of Human Resource Development and Capacity Building
In response to a recommendation by the Board of Trustees of ICARDA, a Center-Commissioned External Review (CCER) of ICARDA's activities in Human Resource Development and Capacity Building of NARS was conducted from 4 to 10 June 2005 at the Center's headquarters in Aleppo. The Panel consisted of Prof. Dr Richard A. Jones, Yale University, USA (Chairperson); Dr Abderrazak Daaloul, Director General, Agricultural Production, Ministry of Agriculture, Tunisia (Member); and Dr Kausar Malik, Director General, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and formerly PARC Chair (Member). Prof. Dr Richard Gareth Wyn Jones was the Board of Trustees Observer to the CCER.
The CCER Panel with Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (center), ICARDA Director General. From left to right are: Prof. Dr Richard Gareth Wyn Jones, Chairperson of the Program Committee of ICARDA's Board of Trustees; Dr Kausar Malik, Director General, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission; Prof. Dr Richard A. Jones, Yale University, USA; Dr Abderrazak Daaloul, Director General, Agricultural Production, Ministry of Agriculture, Tunisia.

The review covered the diverse categories of training courses offered by ICARDA at headquarters and elsewhere, the programs for post-doctoral fellows and visiting scientists, sabbatical leave, and staff enhancement in general. The Panel looked at impact assessment and cost/benefit of the current capacity building approaches at ICARDA; the balance between the degree and non-degree training; numbers of visiting scientists, post-docs and interns; alternative methods/ ways of capacity building; costing of post-graduate degree training and other training categories; synergies in training delivery with other CGIAR Centers, ARIs and regional NARS; NARS requests for self-funded training and study tours; outsourcing and the role of ICARDA scientists in training; the impacts of the changing external environment on capacity building, including the tools of new science; evolution in the capacity of partners and cooperators; and the shift from passive training to community empowerment and increased adaptive capacity.

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, welcomed the Panel to ICARDA and briefed them on the review process. The Panel program included a presentation by Dr W. Erskine, ADG (Research) on ICARDA mission, strategy, and its new structure, followed by a presentation by Dr Samir El-Sebae Ahmed, Head of the Human Resource Development Unit (HRDU), on the past and present activities in human resource development and of issues that needed to be reviewed critically. The Panel toured ICARDA's research and training facilities, including all the laboratories, and interviewed Directors of Mega-Projects (MPs) and Unit Heads, as well as several individual principal and regional staff members.

The Panel also met with a few training participants from the four on-going group training courses, individual degree students (PhD and MSc), as well as with the members of the Training Coordination Committee (TCC). On 9 June, the Panel had the opportunity to meet with the JICA representatives for Syria and Iraq and attend the closing ceremony of two group training courses: (i) the JICA-funded training course within the Third Country Training Program (TCTP) for Afghanistan on “Cereal Crops Improvement, and (ii) the ICARDA regional training course on “Seed Bank Management.”

The Panel will also analyze the questionnaires returned by heads of NARS, heads of national, regional and international organizations, donor organizations, and former ICARDA training participants, and make field visits in some selected countries in the CWANA region. The report of the review is expected to be presented to ICARDA Board of Trustees at its meeting in late 2005 or early 2006.

ICARDA Management and HRDU staff thank all members of the CCER Panel and Prof. Dr Gareth Wyn Jones for their efforts and look forward to seeing the recommendations to improve the efficiency and usefulness of the Center's human resource development activities.

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org) serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations supporting15 international research centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.
Back