ICARDA annual report 2004

ICARDA Annual Report 2004
74
H.E. Mr M. K. Anwar, Minister
of Agriculture, Bangladesh, visited
Egypt in October. He visited
CLAES, AGERI, the Library of
Alexandria, and a modern farm in
the newly reclaimed areas of
Nubaria region where he was
shown modern production systems
of cash crops.
West Asia Regional
Program
The West Asia Regional Program
(WARP), based in Amman, Jordan,
works in partnership with the
NARS of Cyprus, Iraq, Jordan,
Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and the
southern parts of Turkey.
Collaborative activities with
Cyprus are mainly related to
exchange of germplasm and expertise.
For Syria and Lebanon, there
are several collaborative activities
aimed at enhancing productivity of
crops and rangelands in the dry
areas. In spite of the prevailing difficult
situation in Palestine and
Iraq, ICARDA has continued its
collaborative activities mainly in
training, exchange of visits, and
provision of genetic material.
Collaborative research
The Dryland Agrobiodiversity
Project, now in its fifth year, continued
its activities in Jordan,
Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority
and Syria, of promoting the conservation
and sustainable use of landraces
and wild species of global
importance originating from the
Fertile Crescent. During the year,
implementation of the project
focused on community participation
and empowerment, the
demonstration of technological
options on a large scale, and the
development of project exit strategies
through formulation of community
development plans, characterization
of livelihood strategies,
H.E. Dr Ibrahim Abu El-Naja (second from left), Minister of Agriculture, Palestine,
speaking at the opening session of the Palestine/ICARDA Biennial Coordination
Meeting held at ICARDA headquarters on 7-8 October 2004. Seated with him are:
Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (second from right), ICARDA Director General; H.E. Dr Azzam
Tubeileh (right), Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Palestine; and Dr Mohan Saxena (left),
ICARDA ADG (At-Large).
and development of natural habitats
management plans (for more
information, see Project 3.3).
During the year, three new
ICARDA projects on management
of water scarcity and one on livestock
health and marketing were
started in the region. Site selections
were conducted for the project on
“Communal Management and
Optimization of Mechanized Microcatchment
Water Harvesting for
Combating Desertification in East
Mediterranean,” also known as the
Vallerani Project, and for the
“Badia Benchmark Sites.” These
projects have boosted research
activities and enhanced networking
among national institutions and
local communities. WARP also supported
NARS of Algeria, Morocco,
and Tunisia to develop a project on
agrobiodiversity conservation
using the experience gained from
implementing a similar project in
West Asia.
Workshops and coordination
meetings
The Palestine/ICARDA biennial
coordination meeting was held at
ICARDA headquarters in October.
The Palestinian delegation was led
by H.E. Mr Ibrahim Abu Al-Naja,
Minister of Agriculture. He
thanked ICARDA for the support
to Palestine amidst the difficult
political environment. Highlights of
collaborative activities presented at
the meeting included the training
of more than 233 researchers from
Palestine, provision of valuable
germplasm, exchange of visits, and
development of joint projects.
Results of the dryland agrobiodiversity
and the dryland initiative
projects were presented and the
future priority areas of research,
including dryland farming, management
of scarce water resources,
rangeland rehabilitation, agrobiodiversity
conservation, and seed production
discussed. In addition, a
memorandum of understanding
between ICARDA and the
Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture
was signed and a meeting was held
between Mr Abdallan Al-Lahham
from UNDP and Prof. Dr Adel
El-Beltagy, Director General of
ICARDA, to discuss the best ways
for the two institutions to join
efforts in serving agricultural
development in Palestine.
More than 80 representatives
from NARS, farmers’ cooperatives,
and international and regional
organizations participated in the
twelfth Jordan/ICARDA Biennial
Coordination Meeting, held at
NCARTT headquarters in
September. Progress of the four
new projects on water management
and animal health, and the achievements
of the collaborative activities