Oasis is being proposed as a global Challenge
Programme, a CGIAR-catalyzed mechanism that
stimulates
strategic partnerships with leading
research-for-development organizations worldwide to
tackle major global issues. The Oasis Challenge
Programme candidate engages international, regional,
and national, organizations from the public,
non-governmental and private sectors that are
interested in increasing their effectiveness through
holistic approaches to combat desertification.
Links to Partner categories:
Oasis
co-proponents
Five bodies are jointly co-proposing Oasis to the
CGIAR for Challenge Programme status:
CIRAD/IRD,
European DesertNet,
ICARDA/ICRISAT,
Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES-JRC
of the European Commission), and the Sahel and
Sahara Observatory (OSS).
Oasis has also received special endorsement from the
Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR)
and the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD)
Secretariat.
International frameworks
to combat desertification
The United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) reflects the world’s
consensus to work together against desertification.
The participation by ICRISAT and ICARDA in the
formation and evolution of the UNCCD provides a
platform for partnership with Oasis. ICRISAT and
ICARDA have close ties with both of the UNCCD’s
implementing bodies, namely the UNCCD Secretariat,
and the UNCCD Global Mechanism (GM, the resource
mobilization facility), and interact with its
Committee on Science and Technology (CST). The UNCCD
is a broad consultative and action mechanism
implemented through Action Plans at the national,
sub-regional, and regional levels (NAPs, SRAPs, and
RAPs), as well as through Thematic Programme
Networks (TPNs) on regionally-important topics.
Oasis
convenors
During its start-up phase, Oasis is jointly convened
by two CGIAR Centers, ICARDA and ICRISAT, which have
mandates within the CGIAR System to lead dryland
systems research-for-development for the
non-tropical and tropical regions, respectively.
Oasis thus builds on a long history of
partnership-based research-for-development.
Developing-country partners and frameworks at global
and regional levels
At the global level, Oasis partners with the Global
Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) providing
vibrant channels of communication with developing
country partners worldwide.
In sub-Saharan Africa Oasis builds on existing
relationships with the African regional agricultural
research coordinating bodies FARA, IGAD, CORAF,
ASARECA and SADC. It also links to CILSS, the
Francophone regional body responsible for combating
desertification in the Sahel, in particular its
research-for-development institutes INSAH
(environment, agriculture, inputs and markets,
regulations, and population studies) and AGRHYMET
(hydrological and crop modeling, plant diseases, and
training). It partners with the Sahara and Sahel
Observatory (OSS — environmental monitoring and
joint management of shared water resources).
Oasis also partners with two desertification-focused
political-economic development bodies formed the
wake of the disasterous extended Sahelian drought of
the 1970s/80s. Club du Sahel is a discussion and
information exchange forum linking the OECD
countries to the West African drylands. The
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD),
headquartered in Djibouti is a product of efforts
begun in 1986 by six drought-stricken East African
countries to coordinate development in the Horn of
Africa. Additional African regional partners
addressing desertification and dryland degradation
include CERAAS, SWMNET, and FANRPAN, among others.
NEPAD, through its Comprehensive Africa Agriculture
Development Programme (CAADP) and Environment Action
Plan (EAP), and FARA’s FAAP (Framework for African
Agricultural Productivity, endorsed by the African
Union) are additional important reference frames for
Oasis.
Oasis in Africa also builds on the action program of
the Desert Margins Program (DMP) convened by
ICRISAT, formed in response to the UNCCD imperative
to combat desertification. DMP links nine sub-Sahara
African countries (Botswana, Burkina Faso, Kenya,
Mali, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, South Africa and
Zimbabwe) with four CGIAR Centers (ICRISAT, ICRAF,
ILRI, and CIAT-TSBF) as well as with IFDC, CIRAD,
IRD and CEH. DMP operates in close alignment with
the sub-regional organizations in SSA mentioned
above.
Likewise in non-tropical regions, Oasis builds on
many existing relationships. ARINENA (Association of
Agricultural Research Institutions in Near East and
North Africa) interlinks national partners in this
zone. An example in the North
Africa/West Asia region is the Mashreq/Maghreb
Project convened by ICARDA with strong participation
of IFPRI. M&M (as it is known) unites Algeria, Iraq,
Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia
for sustainable dryland development. The Desert
Research Center in Egypt, the Arid Land Center in
Tunisia, the International Center for Biosaline
Agriculture (ICBA) headquartered in Dubai, and
EMBRAPA in Brazil are also partners of Oasis.
Another recent, major emerging project stemming from
ICARDA's close partnership with the UNCCD Global
Mechanism (which has co-located its office with them
in Tashkent) links with the Asian Development
Bank-led Central Asian Countries Initiative for Land
Management (CACILM). This new 10 year multi-country
program focuses on sustainable agriculture, forest
and woodland management, pastureland management,
integrated resource management, biodiversity
conservation and capacity building for land use
planning, and strengthening of the enabling
environment.
Asian dryland nations are regionally inter-linked
through APAARI, the Asia-Pacific Association of
Agricultural Research Institutions. APAARI provides
a forum for regional dialogue on cross-cutting
issues such as those affecting the drylands, and
fostering global integration of Asian agricultural
research with other regions of the world.
Oasis is currently developing relationships with
dryland development programs in Latin America and
the Caribbean as well.
National partners
Oasis members work closely with a large number of
NARS across the drylands of the developing world,
far too many to list here. The few that are
highlighted below are by way of illustration and do
not imply a different status compared to the many
others that could also be mentioned. More projects
and linkages can be traced by following the
descriptions at the Oasis Links
web page.
In South Asia, ICRISAT's close relationship with
Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR)
institutes, specifically CAZRI and CRIDA is
leveraged for Oasis, and through the UNCCD Thematic
Programme Network for South Asia on agroforestry and
soil conservation led by CAZRI. ICARDA and ICRISAT's
collaboration with Pakistan’s NARC creates a
platform for partnership.
In China, Oasis builds on linkages established
through ICARDA’s recent co-convening of the Fifth
International Dryland Development Conference in
Beijing and the initiation of a research network
named CWANA+ that extends its Central Asia network
to include China. Oasis will also build on the
ongoing partnership-based activities of many of its
member CGIAR Centers in that country.
Advanced
research institutions, initiatives and networks
Oasis partners have many linkages to advanced
research institutions around the world. The French
institutions CIRAD and IRD are Oasis co-proponents
and close research partners. The European DesertNet
(EDN) network is also an Oasis co-proponent.
Established in October 2006, it provides an
important platform for partnership with leading
researchers worldwide. EDN currently has 220 members
from 36 countries, mainly from Europe but many from
beyond. Oasis is also a founding member of the new
Global Network of Drylands Research Institutions (GNDRI).
Though not focused solely on the drylands, EFARD,
the European Forum on Agricultural Research for
Development, and ECART, the European Consortium on
Agricultural Research in the Tropics, are also
important research network partners. Important
European FP6 and FP7 projects that have expressed
interest in Oasis include the Alterra (Wageningen)-convened
DES!RE and GEOWISE (Geographical Transect Approach
to Desertification) projects, and ‘Evaluation of
Restoration and Desertification Mitigation
Strategies along Transects
of Economic and Biophysical Gradients’ (EREMITE).
Oasis is also exploring linkages with the CIRAD-coordinated
‘Agricultural Innovation in Dryland Africa’ (AIDA)
Project.
Oasis also links to centers of excellence in the
USA, where a number of universities have high
competence on dryland issues, e.g. Arizona’s Arid
Lands Institute, Columbia University’s Center for
International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)
within its Earth Institute, Cornell University,
INTSORMIL (a collaborative program focused on
sorghum and millet improvement engaging seven US
universities plus USDA/ARS), Michigan State
University (LUCID and CLIP projects), Nevada’s
Desert Research Institute, Purdue University, the
University of Arizona, the University of California
(Riverside and Davis) and the University of Florida
(Centre for Environmental Policy).
Oasis has also built links with advanced research
institutions in other nations that hold strong
dryland interest and expertise, such as Australia’s
CSIRO, Japan’s Arid Land Research Center at Tottori
University, and JIRCAS, Norway’s Noragric Centre for
International Environment and Development Studies at
the Agricultural University of Norway, and the UK’s
Drylands Research and Center for Arid Zone Studies
(University of Wales-Bangor).
Specialized UN agencies and scientific projects are
also important partners. Oasis links with FAO’s LADA
initiative (Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands),
and interacts with the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) on climate-related issues. Oasis
partners with UNESCO on knowledge-sharing,
particularly through its Man and the Biosphere (MAB)
Drylands Programme and Sustainable Management of
Marginal Drylands project (SUMAMAD, which links nine
countries and research teams in northern Africa,
Asia and Europe). UNDP’s Drylands Development Center
and UNEP also have strong interest in the drylands
and have close linkages with Oasis.
Since many climate change and biodiversity issues
intersect with desertification, Oasis also liases
closely with sister CGIAR initiatives on these
topics. The biodiversity linkage is engaged through
Oasis partner Bioversity International; a link is
also emerging with Bioversity on the High Value
Crops Challenge Programme candidate. Oasis also
links to the Climate Change Challenge Programme
candidate.
Sister
Challenge and Systemwide Programs
Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme
SSA-CP, convened by FARA, focuses on transforming
the research-to-development institutional and
process continuum in Africa to become more dynamic
and effective. Two of the three SSA-CP Pilot
Learning Sites (PLS) include substantial areas of
drylands: the Kano-Katsina-Maradi (KKM) axis, and
the Zimbabwe-Mozambique-Malawi corridor. SSA-CP has
established broad and diverse partnerships in these
areas. There are a number of topical congruencies
between SSA-CP and Oasis at these PLS, such as
rainfed horticulture, more efficient water and soil
fertility management, conservation agriculture, and
crop-livestock systems. A number of Oasis Centers
also participate in particular activities of SSA-CP.
Oasis will maintain a close dialogue with SSA-CP to
coordinate and optimize synergies.
Water and Food Challenge Programme
The CPWF places most of its emphasis on large-scale
water resource issues at the river basin and
catchment scales in wetter regions. Oasis will
complement this perspective with its focus on
smaller-scale water management in dry areas
(watershed and field). The closest interface will be
with CPWF’s theme on crop water productivity
improvement led by IRRI, which includes drought and
salinity dimensions. This theme asks research
questions that are also relevant to Oasis concerning
water-efficient crops, water-saving farm practices,
need-based water supply, and water policies and
institutions. Projects within this theme engage
Oasis Centers in certain dryland areas, such as the
Limpopo River Basin (ICRISAT), the Atbara River
Basin, Eritrea and the Karkheh River Basin, Iran (ICARDA),
and the Yellow River Basin, China (CIMMYT). These
interfaces will provide mechanisms for coordination,
complementation and knowledge exchange with Oasis.
Generation Challenge Programme
Generation CP’s subprogramme 3 places a strong
emphasis on drought resistance breeding in cereals
and legumes, a very relevant topic for Oasis. This
CP applies cutting edge molecular science to attain
new breakthroughs. Oasis partners CIMMYT, ICARDA and
ICRISAT are engaged with this CP through their crop
breeding and molecular biology laboratories. Oasis
will keep close watch on progress in this CP and
take advantage of its innovations as they emerge
from the pipeline.
HarvestPlus Challenge Programme
HarvestPlus breeds more nutrient-dense crops (biofortification).
Dry areas are most at risk of malnutrition, because
shortages of water (and poverty) make it difficult
to grow (or to afford) vitamin-rich, diverse
vegetable crops. Unfortunately, HarvestPlus has
deferred investigation into most of the dryland
crops into Phase 2 (barley, cowpeas, lentils,
millet, pigeonpeas, sorghum). Current activities on
these dryland crops are restricted to feasibility
studies. Cassava is a Phase 1 crop, and while
traditionally thought of as a crop of the humid
tropics, some varieties are very drought tolerant
and are increasingly grown in the drylands. Oasis
Centers CIMMYT, ICARDA, IITA and ICRISAT are
involved in HarvestPlus and will ensure ongoing
awareness of opportunities to capitalize on its
achievements.
Desert Margins Programme
The Desert Margins Programme, described earlier is
one of the cornerstones of Oasis in sub-Saharan
Africa (Botswana, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali,
Namibia, Niger, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe).
In addition Oasis CGIAR Centers have close ongoing
partnerships with non-DMP dryland nations such as
Chad, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, and also work with
governance bodies and NGOs in southern Sudan and
Somalia when security conditions permit.
Systemwide Livestock Programme
The SLP is an important partner for Oasis. Livestock
and rangelands are integral elements of the drylands,
and the reason Oasis generally refers to its clients
as ‘land users’ rather than ‘farmers.’ SLP works to
strengthen links among crop, agroforestry, policy,
natural resource, and livestock oriented CGIAR
programmes, which covers many of the facets of
Oasis. Food-feed systems, crop-livestock
interactions, crop residue management, and fodder
systems are examples of the interactions between
crops and livestock that receive attention from SLP.
Oasis needs these inputs to round out the food and
tree crops emphasis of most of its member Centers.
ILRI delivers the SLP interface to Oasis, and
several Oasis Centers (and programs such as DMP) are
involved in SLP activities.
Additional Systemwide
Programme interactions
In addition to the above, there are important facets
of interaction that Oasis will pursue with the
following:
-
Systemwide Collective Action and Property
Rights Programme (CAPRi) on land tenure and
community engagement and gender issues,
largely through Oasis member IFPRI;
-
Collaborative Research Program for
Sustainable Agricultural Development in
Central Asia and Caucasus (CAC), through
ICARDA;
-
Rice-Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic
Plains (RWC) through CIMMYT;
-
Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM)
Task Force through ICARDA; and
-
Consortium for Spatial Information (CSI)
through ICRAF and CIAT.
Non-governmental, civil society and private sector
partners and initiatives
In pursuit of the integrated ecosystems approach,
Oasis has established relationships with
environmental NGOs such as Ecoagriculture,
IIED-Drylands, IUCN and WWF. WorldVision and
Catholic Relief Services are two large NGO partners
in the drylands that assist with up and out-scaling
of research innovations. Landcare International and
the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN)
foster multi-stakeholder linkages and processes to
enable dryland dwellers to more effectively engage
in sustainable dryland management and governance.
Oasis’ research on community dynamics involves
farmer and women’s groups, self-help and local
natural resource management associations, and
related civil society organizations. The
International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP)
represents farmers in Oasis. Oasis also engages with
the private sector for the dissemination of
innovations such as seed and seedlings, fertilizer,
access to urban and export markets, post-harvest
processing, and other goods and services. Initial
consultative partners from the private sector
include Technoserve, CNFA, and the FARA Private
Sector Initiative.
Development investors (donors)
Development investors are vital, active partners in
Oasis. They recognize that dryland degradation sets
a trap for the poor, limiting their ability to grow
their way out of poverty. They want to help.
The UNCCD commits the world to invest substantial
institutional, human and financial resources to
combat desertification, and facilitates that process
through its Global Mechanism (GM). The World Bank’s
TerrAfrica program is another global vehicle for
unlocking and increasing the efficiency of financial
and non-financial resources to combat
desertification in congruence with the Action Plans
stimulated by the UNCCD.
Oasis is pleased that many investors are stepping
forward with indications of support for its global,
science-based approach. Pioneer investors in Oasis
include the Government of Belgium (DGDC), the Global
Environment Facility (GEF, through UNEP), the
Government of France (through GFAR), the
International Development Research Centre, Canada (IDRC),
the International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD), the UNCCD Global Mechanism, and the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The CGIAR donors, through the Oasis convening CGIAR
Centers ICRISAT and ICARDA have also provided
substantial core support to catalyze Oasis since
2001.
The European Commission (EC) has expressed strong
interest in Oasis. EIARD, the European Forum on
Agricultural Research for Development, promotes
coordination among European donors to the CGIAR and
other international bodies, and will be a crucial
partner for Oasis. PAEPARD, the Platform for
African-European Partnership for ARD, will be an
important support mechanism for African Oasis
partners.
In addition to these direct investors, many others
support anti-desertification projects underway by
Oasis partners. Space does not permit listing all
these relationships. Many are described on their
individual project websites (linked-to
here). Discussions are
underway with additional investors who have
indicated interest in accelerating
research-for-development progress against
desertification.
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