ICARDA News

International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas

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E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Website: www.icarda.org
28 February 2008
Media contact: icarda-media@cgiar.org
 
Strengthening Libya-ICARDA Collaboration:
Workplan for 2008 Developed
A high-level Libyan delegation visited ICARDA to discuss research workplans and budgets for the 2008/09 season. Right to left: Dr Mahmoud Solh, ICARDA Director General; Mr Abdelwahed Lamloum, Advisor to the ARC Director General; Dr Agoub Abdallah Agoub, ARC Deputy Director Research; and Dr Ali Kafu, ARC Deputy Director.
Partnerships between ICARDA and Libya continue to grow stronger. A high-level delegation from the Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, visited ICARDA headquarters, 15-22 February, for the Second ARC-ICARDA Coordination and Planning Meeting. The partnership operates through a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2004, covering a 5-year period. This meeting focused on developing a workplan and budget for the 2008/09 season. Both institutions reiterated their commitment to shared goals and a common approach. Presentations at the meeting confirmed that the collaborative program is making excellent progress; and the partnership is being further expanded in several areas.

The Libyan delegation was headed by Mr Abdelwahed Lamloum, Advisor to the ARC Director General. It included senior ARC management, and the coordinators of all ARC-ICARDA collaborative projects: Dr Ali Kafu, Deputy Director (Co-overall Coordinator of the ARC-ICARDA Collaborative Program); Dr Agoub Abdallah Agoub, Deputy Director Research (Co-overall Program Coordinator); Dr Ibrahim Ben Amer, Genebank Director and coordinator of the collaborative cereals project; Eng. Omar Ali Jarroud, coordinator of the water harvesting project; and Eng. Ayad Al Marimi, coordinator of the small ruminants project. ICARDA was represented at full strength: Dr Mahmoud Solh, Director General; Dr Maarten van Ginkel, DDG-Research; Dr Richard Brettell, Director-BIGM; Dr Theib Oweis, Director-IWLMP; Dr Kamil Shideed, Director-SEPR; Dr Ahmed Sidahmed, Acting Director-DSIPS; and other senior management including Dr Mohammed El Mourid, Coordinator of ICARDA's North Africa Regional Program.
The Libyan delegation at ICARDA headquarters, with ICARDA scientists and management.

Dr Solh reiterated his deep appreciation to H.E. Dr Abubaker Al-Mansouri, Minister of Agriculture; and Eng. Mohamed Farkash, ARC?Director General; for their support for developing the collaboration between Libya and ICARDA.

Extensive discussions, 16-19 February, focused on a detailed review (progress, logframe development, budgets and workplans for 2008/09) of the three ARC- ICARDA projects: water harvesting, wheat and barley systems, and small ruminants. The workplans, developed jointly by ICARDA and ARC scientists, were discussed and agreed upon.

Once the technical details were ironed out, Dr Solh chaired a wrap-up session where broader policy issues were debated, and a formal record of the meetings was prepared and signed. The 2008 workplan and budget was approved by the ICARDA Director General, and is now awaiting signature by the relevant authorities in Libya. Dr Solh reiterated ICARDA's firm commitment to this partnership, and stressed that field implementation of the 2008 workplan would begin immediately once the plan was approved by ARC’s Director General.
 

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.org) is one of the 15 international research centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ICARDA 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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