ICARDA News

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
17 October 2002
For more information contact:S.Varma@cgiar.org
Integrated Natural Resource Management
Putting Concept into Action
The marginalized people in fragile ecosystems with depleting natural resources continue to face the challenge of hunger and poverty. ‘Meetings and meetings,’ what is the outcome, they ask. The researchers say, ‘we have developed simulation models,’ but, when applied in real-life situations those models often do not prove relevant to development. How can we make a difference for the communities? This is the challenge that INRM [Integrated Natural Resource Management] experts face. I hope this meeting will be able to find some answers to this challenge, both for the poor and the donors who support INRM research,” said Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, in his opening address at the fourth meeting of the INRM Task Force of the Consultive Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), held at ICARDA, 16-19 September 2002.
    INRM emerged as one of the three pillars of the CGIAR Agenda, with Integrated Gene Management and Information Technology being the other two pillars, in the Systemwide Review of the CGIAR, held in 1998. The three earlier meetings of the INRM Task Force took place in the Netherlands, Malaysia, and Colombia, respectively.
    Prof. Dr El-Beltagy said ICARDA was happy to host the meeting. He welcomed the Task Force Chair, Dr Joachim Voss, Director General of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and members and other participants to the Center.
    “In my view INRM should also encompass genetic resources. Like other natural resources, genetic resources are God-given to us. But they are exposed to degradation. It is important to see the link between the conservation and utilization of genetic resources and INRM. Natural resources are not la mode de chez nous; they are the basic source of life. How we treat our natural resources could mean life or death for our communities,” Prof. Dr El-Beltagy said.
    Human greed, combined with demographic pressure, is causing degradation of natural resources. The degradation is not only resulting in global warming and a hole in the ozone layer; it is causing sociopolitical upheavals. Scarcity of water is taking on alarming dimensions. For example, in Jordan the availability of water has plummeted to about 180 m3 per capita per year.
    “The INRM problems are more acute in dry and semi-arid areas. The participants will have an opportunity to visit Khanasser, which represents one of our INRM benchmark sites. Our research seeks to maneuver the fragile ecosystems so human beings can live in harmony with nature. Case studies with concrete results can establish the credibility of INRM research, and encourage both communities and donors for increased participation. The CGIAR is now working on the concept of Challenge Programs, which are a mechanism to bring together a range of stakeholders and partners for collective action to find solutions to common problems. I am pleased that Dr Richard R. Harwood, of CGIAR’s interim Science Council, is with us today. He is familiar with the Challenge Programs, and this meeting will benefit from his presence. I wish every success to this Task Force meeting,” said Prof. Dr El-Beltagy.
    Dr Voss also addressed the participants at the opening session. He said that Prof. Dr El-Beltagy’s remark “life or death,” in the context of saving or letting natural resources erode, had a strong message. He agreed with Prof. Dr El-Beltagy that genetic resources should form a part of INRM. He referred to the CGIAR Challenge Program on Biofortification, which aims to improve the nutritional quality of food using genetic resources.
The fourth meeting of the Integrated Natural Resource Management Task Force of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research was held at ICARDA headquarters on 16-19 September. At the opening session, from left, are Prof. Jules Pretty, from the University of Essex, UK; Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, ICARDA; and Dr Joachim Voss, Chair of the INRM Task Force and Director General of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture.
Participants in the fourth meeting of the INRM Task Force of the CGIAR.

Participants in the INRM Task Force meeting made a tour of Khanasser Valley, northern Syria, where ICARDA is working with farm communities and national agricultural research system partners to develop, test, and disseminate ecologically sound production technologies.
    “We must make sure that genetic resources are saved from erosion. Using science we must choose the path that is ecologically and environmentally friendly. Through partnerships and applying science in the best possible way, we must build a long-term stewardship of our planet,” he said.
    Prof. Jules Pretty, from the University of Essex, UK, said he was pleased to be at ICARDA to participate in the fourth meeting of the INRM Task Force. “INRM [was] on the political agenda of the Johannesburg Summit. INRM is a personal challenge for all of us. I hope this meeting will provide suitable strategies and mechanisms to meet this challenge,” he said.
    Prof. Pretty is known for his work on the documentation of successful case studies of sustainable agriculture, involving INRM approaches, from around the world.
    The Task Force meeting built on the conceptual framework for INRM that was developed in the second and third meetings. The group made significant progress in moving from theory and concepts into a framework for operationalizing INRM in the field. The Khanasser Valley project was used as a test for the usefulness of the operational framework and gave valuable feedback to the Khanasser team on how to improve the approach taken in this harsh environment. An additional benefit was that the 11 “cornerstones” developed for the operational framework were seen as a useful tool for reviewers of INRM projects and hence could be of widespread use for the CGIAR system.
    “Following the workshop we now have a blue print for undertaking INRM projects in any environment and socioeconomic context. We expect that all centers will begin to mainstream this apporach into their medium-term plans,” said Dr Richard Thomas, Director of the Natural Resource Management Program of ICARDA, who organized the meeting.
    The meeting was facilitated by Dr Jurgen Hagmann, an independent Consultant.

ICARDA's (www.icarda.org) mission is to improve the welfare of people and alleviate poverty through research and training in dry areas of the developing world by increasing production, productivity, and nutritional quality of food, while preserving and enhancing the natural resource base. ICARDA is a Future Harvest Center.
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