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
30 April 2009
Media contact: icarda-media@cgiar.org
 
Water and Livelihoods Initiative – Irrigation Benchmark Workshop
The workshop included field visits and interaction with farmers, to help identify research priorities.
Over 60 participants from eight countries and from ICARDA gathered in Cairo from 7 to 9 April to share ideas on how to squeeze more profit out of a drop of water. The Irrigation Benchmark Workshop, supported by USAID, was the first of three planning workshops under the Water and Livelihoods Initiative (WLI). It brought together scientists from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, from U.S. universities, and from ICARDA, represented by Drs Theib Oweis, Fawzi Karajeh, Nasri Haddad, Manzoor Qadir, Mohammed Karrou and Scott Christiansen.
The WLI will address the three main agro-ecologies in the Middle East – irrigated areas, rainfed systems and rangelands. This workshop focused on irrigated areas, and aimed to finalize the selection of benchmark sites and prioritize the problems and proposed solutions. Irrigated benchmark sites will be located in Egypt, Iraq and Yemen. Sites for the other two agro-ecologies will be finalized at forthcoming meetings. ICARDA's major comparative advantage in the WLI is its long experience in the region, and ability to facilitate knowledge sharing across countries. The WLI will also build on the Water Benchmarks Project, which recently completed its first phase.
Participants of the Irrigation Benchmark Workshop, Cairo.

The workshop was opened by the Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation in Egypt (and former Director General of ICARDA), Dr Adel El-Beltagy, who emphasized the need for large-scale collaborative projects like the WLI, if we are to meet the Millennium Development Goals in the face of climate change, population growth and a declining natural resource base.

Based on discussions at the workshop, research proposals are being developed for each country for bilateral submission to donors by each country team.

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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