ICARDA News

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.org
14 September 2006
                             Media contact: Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
 
A success story from Helmand
A smile of success: "I am helping the community by reducing suffering and pain while earning a licit income without guilt," said Gul Agha of Helmand (left) while marketing his products in Kabul.
Mr Gul Agha, a member of the Helmand MPA and former poppy producer, is profitably using the mint water production plant installed by the project. Since May 2006, he has produced and sold 1000 bottles of mint water in the local market. Besides the public and shopkeepers, several doctors and government hospitals (Ministry of Health) are his regular customers. He proudly told the project leader, Dr Javed Rizvi: "I am helping the community by reducing suffering and pain while earning a licit income without guilt." He also expressed his intention to grow mint on a significantly larger scale.

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.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.
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