ICARDA Caravan 16

the geographic mandate of the Center. Over 80 million people live in the highlands of Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA); the region is home to a rich genetic diversity; and is much more vulnerable than lowlands to natural resource degradation.
     Since high-elevation areas are subject to harsh weather, are not easily accessible, and their soils are degraded, they have conventionally been marginalized in research and development programs. This is reflected in poor research infrastructure, shortage of food, and widespread poverty. However, in the ICARDA region, over 35% of the wheat produced comes from mountainous areas, as does a significant proportion of livestock. Food legumes, particularly chickpea and lentil, occupy an important place in the farming systems, and are an integral component in the diet of the mountain populations.
     ICARDA has not only maintained its original research interest, but has strengthened its efforts in promoting agriculture in mountainous areas. The Center’s Highland Regional Program, based in Turkey, undertakes collaborative research with national partners in Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Morocco and Algeria, and the countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus. In the highlands of Latin America, the Center’s collaborative program focuses on cereal (particularly barley) and food legume improvement, and natural resource management.
     In Pakistan, a project on “Management of Agricultural Research and Technology” (MART) was conducted during 1985-1994 jointly by ICARDA and the Arid Zone Research Institute (AZRI), based in highland Balochistan. The MART Project strengthened the research capacity of AZRI through the acquisition of necessary infrastructure and the training of research staff. A dryland agriculture program was developed and implemented successfully, based on improved rangeland management, integration of crops and small-ruminant production, use of fodder shrubs as an additional feed resource, water harvesting for increased water-use efficiency, and identification and adoption of drought-tolerant cultivars of wheat, barley, lentil, and vetch.
Indeed, ICARDA’s involvement in highland agriculture was put to best use when opportunity came to rebuild Afghanistan after long years of war and drought. The Center, during its early years, had collaborative projects in Afghanistan, which led to the release of new crop varieties. The precious germplasm collected from mountainous areas of the country during those years is still available in ICARDA’s genebank both for repatriation and for use in developing new varieties suited for the agroclimatic conditions of Afghanistan. Based on these comparative advantages, ICARDA was, in January 2002, designated as the lead center in a multipartner initiative—the Future Harvest Consortium to Rebuild Agriculture in Afghanistan. The Consortium receives financial support from the United States Agency for International Development. Glimpses of the progress made by ICARDA in rebuilding agriculture in Afghanistan are presented in this issue.
     In Turkey, a project on “Sustainable Development of Small-scale Farmers of the Taurus Mountains,” popularly known as the “Taurus Mountains Project (TMP),” was implemented during 1990-1998. A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Çukurova University and other Turkish institutes collaborated with ICARDA and with small-scale farmers in four villages of the Taurus Mountains to develop, test, and disseminate new, improved crop varieties and technologies in the target region. TMP is estimated to have raised farm family annual income by 65% over the Project period.
     The Iran–ICARDA collaboration, dating back to the early days of ICARDA, has greatly expanded with the initiation of a joint project on “Strengthening Agricultural Research for Dryland Farming in the High Altitude Areas of Iran” and the consequent posting of ICARDA staff in Iran, starting in 1996. The strong commitment and dedication of Iranian researchers has made it possible to make important achievements. Research facilities have been established at two major centers—one each at Maragheh and Sararood—and enhanced at several other centers in the country. New cultivars of wheat, barley, chickpea and lentil, along with associated production technologies, have been developed and are being adopted by farmers in the dry, rainfed areas of Iran, providing yield increases of up to 40% or more at the farm level
     Research on policy and property rights is an integral component of ICARDA’s research agenda. A study in the highlands of Yemen, for example, is under way to understand why terrace farming in the country has lost its importance and why terraces are left to degrade, and how this trend can be reversed. Community participation in designing rehabilitation techniques for terraces is a key component of the project.
     This issue of Caravan presents a sample of success stories from ICARDA’s work in mountainous areas in CWANA. I hope it will add to the momentum generated by the declaration of 2002 as the International Year of Mountains to improve the welfare of the people, and the health of the environment, in mountainous areas.