International
Cooperation
North
Africa Regional Program
The
North Africa Regional Program (NARP) serves Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco,
and Tunisia and is administered through ICARDA’s regional office in Tunisia.
Several projects were implemented in 2001, including a trans-regional project
on “Development of Integrated Crop/Livestock Production Systems in the
Low Rainfall Areas of West Asia and North Africa” (the Mashreq/ Maghreb
project), funded by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD),
the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the International
Development Research Centre (IDRC); “Institutional Options for Rangeland
Management,” supported by the Ford Foundation and the Systemwide Program
for Collective Action and Property Rights (CAPRi); “Utilization of Shrubs,”
supported by the Systemwide Livestock Program (SLP); “Development of Biotechnological
Research in the Arab States,” funded by AFESD; “Optimizing Soil Water
Use,” supported by the Systemwide Program on Soil, Water and Nutrient Management
(SWNM); and the research on Pilot IPM Site in Morocco, which was supported by
the Systemwide IPM Program.
A
formal agreement of collaboration was signed by H.E. Ahmady Ould Hamady (right)
Minister of Agriculture, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, and Prof. Dr Adel
El-Beltagy on behalf of ICARDA.
Collaborative
research activities, annual coordination meetings, specialized workshops, and
exchange visits by farmers, scientists, and administrators continued to strengthen
ICARDA’s partnerships in North Africa. Algeria requested further technical
assistance to implement its National Agricultural Development Plan. The ICARDA
Seed Unit helped Moroccan plant breeders to review their seed production program.
Two new collaborative projects supported by USDA/FAS, were started in Tunisia:
“Biological Diversity and Cultural and Economic Value of Medicinal, Herbal,
and Aromatic Plants in
Southern Tunisia” and “GIS and Watershed Management in Southern Tunisia.”
New partnerships were forged through agreements with the Ministry of Rural Development
and Environment of Mauritania, the Maghreb Arab Union, and the Institut des
Régions Arides (IRA), Tunisia.
Participants
in the international conference on "Policy and Institutional Options for
the Management of Rangelands in Dry Areas," jointly organized by the Tunisian
national program, ICARDA, IFPRI/CAPRi and ILRI, in Hammamet, Tunisia, in May
2001.
The
Rabat Declaration was the outcome of a high profile ministerial meeting on “Opportunities
for Sustainable Investment in Rainfed Areas of WANA,” held in Morocco in
June. Organized by the World Bank, the meeting brought together international
organizations, donors, and ministers from 14 countries. The participants agreed
to form partnerships that will promote sustainable development of dryland agriculture
in the region. ICARDA will act as the secretariat and will coordinate the efforts
of national, regional, and international organizations.
National coordination
meetings were held in Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia to review the results
of collaborative research and plan for the future. Participants in the Mashreq/Maghreb
project reviewed their latest results and discussed activities to be implemented
in the final year of the project. More than 80 delegates, including farmers,
policy makers, and scientists, attended a regional workshop entitled “Technical,
Policy, and Institutional Options for the Development of Communities in the
Dry Areas” organized by the Mashreq/Maghreb project. They discussed their
experiences in working with communities and reviewed the methodologies and
tools developed for this purpose. The participants visited the community of
Sidi Boumehdi in Morocco and observed how the community approach had developed.
They were also able to see for themselves the difficulties and opportunities
faced by communities in areas of low rainfall.
ICARDA, IFPRI, the International
Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and CAPRi jointly organized an international
conference on “Policy and Institutional Options for the Management of
Rangelands in the Dry Areas” in Tunisia in May. More than 60 participants
attended including farmers, pastoralists, policy makers, and scientists. The
participants reviewed recent studies on the policy and property rights aspects
of rangeland management in the dry areas. Various institutional options had
been tested, and participants made recommendations for institutionalizing
the more successful approaches.
“Sustainable Management
of Agro-Pastoral Resources” was the title of a workshop held in Morocco
in February, with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
(SDC). Moroccan farmers, researchers, and policy makers attended, along with
scientists from ICARDA.
Collaborative projects
with other ICARDA regional programs included the delivery of cactus pads for
livestock feed. Three scientists from the CAC Livestock Project visited Tunisia
in November to gain experience in rainfed agriculture.
