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
8 February 2007
                             Media contact: Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
 
Partnerships for Soil and Water Conservation in Mauritania
Participants of the PADEL-MDR-ICARDA coordination meeting appreciate the impact of the bench structure technique for soil and water conservation after just one year of implementation.
Much of Mauritania is desert or semi-desert. Two-thirds of the country receives less than 100 mm of rain per year, and most areas are already affected by, or vulnerable to, desertification. Soil and water conservation are vital in such a context - and are the focus of PADEL (Agro-pastoral Development and Local Initiatives Promotion Program in the South-East), a collaborative project funded by the African Development Bank and implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development, together with ICARDA and other partners.

The 2nd Annual Coordination and Planning Meeting of the PADEL project was held in Kiffa East, 600 km east of the capital Nouakchott, on 12-13 December 2006. There were 60 participants from various institutions - national research and extension agencies, development projects, government technical departments on livestock and rural development, and a farmer organization that is helping to test and promote new technologies. The meeting reviewed achievements in 2006 and plans for the next season, and included a visit to the PADEL-ICARDA pilot site at Magtaa Essfira, Kiffa East, where low-cost methods for soil and water conservation, as well as forage and rangeland improvement, have been introduced with great success.

This is the first time such soil and water conservation work is being implemented in the country. Communities are all praises; and other development agencies and projects - including those funded by the Global environment Facility and the World Bank - plan to 'adopt' these technologies for outscaling to other parts of Mauritania.
Improved contour technologies introduced and tested at the PADEL project's Kiffa East pilot site have halted land degradation and improved water availability.

The PADEL project also includes a biodiversity component, under which 72 food, forage and rangeland species have been introduced. Thirty of these species have been planted at the Centre national de la recherche agricole (CNRADA) nursery in Ten Souilem, Nouakchott, where they form an in situ genebank that will help improve forage and rangeland productivity. CNRADA is duplicating this nursery in Kaedi, and the PDRC project (Projet de développement rural communautaire) will also use these species in their project areas.

H.E. Gandega Selly, Minister of Rural Development, attended a wrap-up meeting in Nouakchott with an ICARDA delegation led by Dr Mohammed El Mourid, ICARDA-NARP Coordinator. The Minister expressed appreciation for ICARDA's work, especially the recent efforts to rehabilitate the technical agricultural school ENVFA and to upgrade Mauritania's agricultural research system. ICARDA's technical assistance is vital, he said, and hoped it would be expanded to other projects in irrigated areas. His Excellency emphasized the need for human resources development, which he described as the key factor in national development. ICARDA, in turn, pledged to continue to support Mauritania in this crucial area.
 

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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