The relationship between NARS and ICARDA has been a positive one from the beginning-and is constantly evolving.
That was the message from Prof. Dr Adel El Beltagy, Director General, in his welcome to delegates from the NARS of the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region, who met at ICARDA's Tel Hadya, Aleppo headquarters this week for the WANA/NARS Regional Forum to discuss priority-setting and regional cooperation in agricultural research. The meeting is sponsored by IFAD, FAO, ISNAR and ICARDA.
Prof. Dr El-Beltagy explained that the CGIAR was seeking better modules which will strengthen the relationships between the International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs) and NARS. This exercise is a component in the evolution of a reformed and productive CG system-an evolution begun in 1994.
Welcoming the delegates, Prof. Dr El Beltagy said he looked forward to a productive and successful meeting. He extended a particular welcome to ICARDA Board of Trustees Chairperson Dr Alfred Bronniman and other distinguished guests.
ICARDA's place in the research plans for the region will be part of the discussions. However, an overall Action Plan for all NARS coordination will be produced-covering partnership, priorities, capacity building and fora. This will go forward to a global meeting of all NARS in 1996. This week's meeting at Tel Hadya is thus important for the future of agricultural research in WANA and, to some extent, outside. An outline of a draft action plan, already in existence, was discussed this week.
A considerable contribution to priority-setting will be made by the Association of Agricultural Research Institutions in the Near East and North Africa (AARINENA). Speaking of that body, Prof. El Beltagy said: "AARINENA is the only organization in the region with the golden objective of fulfilling a suitable dialog between the NARS in different countries. It has been sponsored since its beginning by FAO, ISNAR and ICARDA." He saw the meeting as a good opportunity for AARINENA to move from strength to strength, and to seize this opportunity to look at other formats of cooperation in the future.
The meeting was attended by high-level representatives of a number of international organizations, including FAO, IFAD as well as AARINENA-whose President, Dr A. S. Goma'a, chaired the opening session. Dr Goma'a is also former Director General of ARC, Egypt. The CG Secretariat was represented by its Executive Secretary, Alexander von der Osten, and TAC by Prof Richard Musangi. Fellow International Centers were also present, represented by the Director General of CIMMYT, Dr Timothy Reeves, Dr Christian Hoste of ISNAR, Dr A. Lahlou-Kassi of ILRI and IPGRI Regional Director Dr Yawooz Adham.
Dr Goma'a, in his welcome address, stressed the particular problems that the region faces. Food production in WANA, he said, must increase at 4% per annum to keep up with need, but it must do so within the constraints of the environment. On the position of the International Centers, he pointed out that their budget and human resources were limited, so collaboration with NARS was the key to success. "I hope this meeting will help set NARS priorities which will have an impact," he said, and added special thanks to the Government of Syria for its long-standing support to ICARDA.
Dr Shantanu Mathur, Technical Advisor, IFAD, commended ICARDA's excellent track record in collaboration with NARS, and the very fact that it had taken the initiative to host the present NARS regional forum meeting was a reflection of this.
He highlighted the conclusions and recommendations which emerged from the major landmark meetings under the Initiative to strengthen NARS/CGIAR partnerships, including the need to both consolidate experience in successful institutional mechanisms and approaches such as IARC-NARS networking, consortia, and ecoregional models, as well as consider emerging new forms of partnerships among and between NARS and the CG Centers and broader coalitions with NGOs, universities, regional centers, the private sector and farming communities, in the technology development process.
Referring to the purpose of the present Regional Forum meeting, he urged participants to consider the concerns about rural poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability in defining regional research priorities; and remarked that this was natural to the WANA region, given its resource poverty.
On the priority-setting process and the need for an interface between the NARS regional forum and the TAC/CGIAR, he highlighted the need for identifying ways of institutionalizing the process of systematic involvement of the fora in the TAC priority-setting exercise, to ensure sustainability of the process by which the CGIAR agenda would become more NARS-driven.
Mr John Russell, member of the NARS/CGIAR working group, said that the draft action plan to be discussed at the meeting sets out the process for carrying out the Action Plan-but that the substance of the Plan was the prerogative of NARS members at these regional-fora meetings to decide. A good exchange of views, and specific suggestions for the future, were important. AARINENA was now 12 years old, and there were plenty of examples of good cooperation between NARS and the CG Centers in the field.
He reminded the delegates of some of the issues they faced. Area expansion for increased production was not an option in WANA; these needs would have to be met from land already under cultivation, which means that productivity has to be raised. Such an intensification also has implications for the natural-resource base. There was a need for stronger partnerships, and perhaps for different types of research; cash crops might be as important as food crops-people need money to buy food. Priority setting is very important at national and regional level; and strengthening of the regional fora is essential for NARS members in the WANA region to have a stronger say in the CGIAR agenda. These two activities are the prime tasks for this meeting.
(ends)