 |
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
|
||
|
Media
contact:
icarda-media@cgiar.org
|
|||
|
Strategic
partnerships for food security:
initiatives from Arab development agencies |
|||
On
6 April, ICARDA hosted an Open Day for representatives of Arab and
Islamic development agencies, with the theme Strategic partnerships
for food security. The objectives were to share perspectives on
food security, explore new opportunities for partnership, and plan
future collaboration that will help meet shared research-for-development
goals.
The delegation included senior officials from four key development agencies in the region: Dr Ahmed Osman, Director, Technical Department, Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD); Dr Abderrafia Abdelmouttalib and Mr Mourad Mtibaa from the Islamic Development Bank; Dr Abdulkarim Sadik and Dr Abdulredha Bahman from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development; Dr Ahmed Al Yahya, Director General of Research & Economics Studies Department, and Mr Mohammad Al Naheet, Director General of Training, both from the Saudi Fund for Development. The Open Day included a series of presentations, a tour of the farm and research facilities at Tel Hadya, and detailed discussions on future collaboration. AFESD has been a key ICARDA supporter for three decades. It provides core support for capacity development programs, and project funding for a range of initiatives on water management, integrated crop-livestock-rangeland systems, and the Arabian Peninsula Regional Program. Dr Mahmoud Solh, ICARDA Director General, provided an overview of the Center’s research strategy to address the special challenges facing dry-area agriculture – notably climate change, growing water scarcity, and a widening gap between food production and demand. He reiterated the need for more sustainable use of natural resources. "Water is the biggest bottleneck to productivity growth… the Arab region has the world's highest water withdrawal rates, in relation to renewable supplies." He expressed his gratitude to AFESD, and particularly to H.E. Abdulatif Al-Hamad, Chair of the Board of Directors and Director General of AFESD. Representatives of each agency made brief presentations on their funding priorities and near-term plans. Essentially they all shared ICARDA's vision of a more food-secure future, with larger investments in research, leading to stronger national capacity, better rural livelihoods and more sustainable, productive agriculture. "AFESD is happy to work with ICARDA", said Dr Ahmed Osman. "We must ensure that every development project we fund contains a research component; and we urge other agencies in the region to build this approach into their funding plans." The key output from the Open Day was a concept note on food security in the Arab world. It envisages a large-scale, integrated set of interventions – centered on wheat-based systems, combining improved varieties with water and soil management, crop diversification, small ruminant production, and policy and institutional studies, to improve rural livelihoods. The proposed project would run for a two-phase, 10-year period, with results being scaled out from pilot sites to wider areas. National capacity building – support for young scientists, staff secondments and other means – would be an important component. The concept note will be used a framework for future collaboration between ICARDA and development funds in the region. An expanded version will be discussed at the coordination meeting of Arab and Islamic development funds, to be held in Kuwait in June.
|
||||||||||||
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.