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
Website: http://www.icarda.cgiar.org

21 August 2003
For more information contact: S.Varma@cgiar.org
Afghanistan Consortium Reviews Success,
Makes Plans for Expanded Effort

Achievements were applauded and commitments renewed for the important work that remains to be done in raising productivity and incomes in Afghanistan when the Steering Committee of the ICARDA-led Future Harvest Consortium to Rebuild Agriculture in Afghanistan (FHCRAA) met in Kabul 28-29 July.
     FHCRAA member representatives gathered to review the successful completion of projects in Afghanistan and lay the groundwork for the next three years of rebuilding Afghanistan's agriculture. Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General of ICARDA, welcomed delegates, the Afghanistan Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (MOAL), H.E. Sayed Hussein Anwari, Dr Robert Havener, former Chair of the ICARDA Board of Trustees, and Dr Terry Hardt, Agricultural Officer for USAID in Afghanistan. Dr Hardt brought greetings from the United States Embassy and stated that "the US Ambassador is proud to have been part of the Future Harvest Consortium efforts" in Afghanistan.
     The Steering Committee reviewed key outputs of the Consortium, including:

  • Extensive human resource development at different levels, including technical staff, farmers and policy makers
  • Needs assessments in four thematic areas, the results of which are now available on ICARDA's website
  • Pioneer schemes in sustainable seed systems being developed
  • Seed Law, Code of Conduct and National Seed Policy developed and translated into vernacular
  • Several research stations rehabilitated and research work resumed
  • A potato production program achieved good success and a tissue culture laboratory will be opened soon
  • Germplasm of fruit trees collected and several nurseries established
  • Several seed technology and plant pathology laboratories set up
  • Meteorology stations set up at strategic locations nationwide and staff trained
  • Radio reporters trained and stories useful to farm families produced and broadcas

     The Steering Committee gave "unanimous endorsement" for the "remarkable achievements" over the past year, then turned its attention to the work that lies ahead. The meeting was attended by representatives of MOAL–Afghanistan, USAID, Texas A&M University, Cornell University, University of California, IPGRI, CIMMYT, ICRISAT, FAO, IFDC, CIP, DACAAR, ICARDA, DFID, CIDA, Denmark, the French Embassy–Kabul, Chemonics, KRA–Afghanistan, and ISE–Afghanistan.
     The members agreed that the Consortium should continue to function, as in the past, building on its achievements, and augment funding from different sources for pursuing their task of helping Afghanistan rebuild its agriculture and improve the livelihoods of the country’s people.
     The Committee stressed the need to prepare a "strong and consolidated" project proposal for submission to USAID–Kabul as soon as possible.
     Another important matter raised at the meeting was the need for efficient coordination between the Consortium and MOAL, and the need for continued realistic planning, taking into account the actual level of development in the country. Prof. Dr El-Beltagy drew attention to the "golden opportunity" lying before Afghanistan MOAL to "start with a clean slate and build up a Ministry with efficient research, extension, policy and regulatory systems."
     "MOAL needs to set its own agenda, guide the donor community, and orchestrate its own resources," Committee members agreed. For its part, MOAL will be "vigilant in detecting any wasteful duplication and ensure that there are complementarities and division of labor between different organizations. MOAL supports the consortium approach as an effective means of minimizing duplication."
     Price stabilization, crop diversification, and market development also received a great deal of attention from the Committee. It was recommended that MOAL be prepared to buy excess produce and ship it to low-producing areas as a means to support prices and stabilize supply when crop improvement interventions threaten to depress prices. To further protect farmer incomes, and decrease the incentive for farmers to shift to poppy production, the Committee stressed the need for crop diversification, to include high-value horticultural crops, such as vegetables and fruit trees. It was also recommended that primary focus be placed on domestic market development before moving on to regional and international markets.
Afghanistan's Minister of Agriculture and Livestock,
H.E. Sayed Hussein Anwari, cuts the ribbon on the
new national seed quality and seed health testing
laboratory at Badam Bagh, assisted by the USAID
Mission Director in Afghanistan, Dr Craig Buck, far
right, and ICARDA Director General Prof. Dr Adel El-
Beltagy (left center).


H.E. the Minister, the USAID Mission Director and
Members of the Steering Committee gather to
celebrate the official start-up of a new tube well at
Darul Aman agricultural research station.

H.E. the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Mr
Sayed Hussein Anwari (second from left); HE the
Deputy Minister of Agriculture (third from left);
USAID Mission Director in Afghanistan, Dr Craig
Buck (fourth from left); and ICARDA Director
General Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (left), listen to Dr
Nasrat Wassimi, head of ICARDA's Kabul office,
about the anticipated benefits of the seed quality and
seed health testing laboratory at Badam Bagh.

USAID's Dr Craig Buck samples water from the new
tube well at Darul Aman.

H.E. the Minister, the Director of USAID Mission and
the members of the Steering Committee are briefed
on the new meteorological station at Badam Bagh
Horticultural Research Station.
     The Steering Committee extended special recognition to the ICARDA–Kabul staff under the direction of Dr Nasrat Wassimi. Beginning with planning meetings held in tea shops just over a year ago, Dr Wassimi's team built an organization offering superior logistical support for the implementation of all FHCRAA projects. Dr Wassimi's staff, Messrs. Mohaqqiq, Manan and Siddiqi, ensured the success of a wide variety of rebuilding projects that relied heavily on their agricultural expertise, in-country support services, and translation skills.
     At the press conference celebrating the reopening and inauguration of the Badam Bagh seed health and quality laboratory and the refurbishing of the Darul Aman agricultural research station, USAID Mission Director, Dr Craig Buck, reiterated the US commitment to the economic growth and prosperity of Afghanistan. "One of the fastest ways to move people into better lives and higher incomes is through the agricultural sector," Dr Buck stated. H.E. Sayed Hussain Anwari and Dr Buck, accompanied by Steering Committee Members and newspaper, television and radio reporters, toured the new laboratory and field facilities, including the farm machinery, the new tube well and a meteorological station at Darul Aman. These sites were representative of six similar facilities, in five provinces, being rehabilitated by the FHCRAA.
     The Future Harvest Consortium was created at a meeting of 34 international organizations and donors in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in January 2002. All programs and projects are implemented in collaboration and cooperation with nongovernmental organizations, United States universities, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), other centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and the Afghanistan Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. Major funding has been provided by USAID. The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, also supports Consortium projects. Future funding is also expected from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), OPEC Fund for International Development, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and other donors.

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.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of 62 members and 16 Future Harvest Centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment

The Future Harvest Consortium to Rebuild Agriculture in Afghanistan is a multi-partner effort led by the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). More information on the Future Harvest Consortium to Rebuild Agriculture in Afghanistan can be found at: www.futureharvest.org

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the government agency providing U.S. economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for more than 40 years (www.USAID.gov).

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