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
T
he Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional
Program, ICARDA’s first and longest-running outreach program, was
held up by national partners as a model for progress through cooperation
when stakeholders met to open the program’s 13th Regional Coordination
Meeting at ICARDA headquarters, 13–16 October 2003.
Established in 1979, two year’s after ICARDA’s
founding, the program began with two national partners, Sudan and Egypt,
one crop, faba bean, and one donor. The program now includes all countries
in the region, covers cool-season food legumes and cereals, and is supported
by many donors, but principally the International Fund for Agricultural
Development.
From left, Mr Semere Amlesom, Eritrea; Dr Magdy
Madkour, Egypt; Dr Mohan Saxena, ICARDA; Dr
Demel Teketay, Ethiopia; Prof. Dr Elsadig
Sullieman, Sudan; and Dr Ismail Muharram, Yemen,
at the opening session of the Nile Valley and Red
Sea Regional Program's 13th Regional Coordination
Meeting held at ICARDA headquarters 13-16
October 2003.
Dr Saxena made an emotional review of the history and progress made by the ground-breaking program, which he described as an “interesting and extraordinary example of cooperation.”
He expressed his deep appreciation for the foresight of Dr Mohamed A. Nour, the then ICARDA Director General, for launching the program.
The program is “very dynamic in meeting the needs of the region” and its “inclusive, participatory approach to problem identification and problem solving” holds lessons of value to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, which is now strongly promoting multi-partner, international Challenge Programs, Dr Saxena said.
Participants in the Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional
Program's 13th Regional Coordination Meeting
peruse ICARDA publications.
The program is “pushing forward on productivity” and is “combating poverty,” said Dr Madkour, an ICARDA Board member, in pledging his continuing cooperation in implementing the program “to the best of our ability.”
Dr Demel Teketay, Director General, Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization, applauded the “harmonious and successful collaboration among Ethiopia, ICARDA and other members of NVRSRP.”
Participants in the Nile Valley and Red Sea Regional
Program's 13th Regional Coordination Meeting, held at
ICARDA headquarters 13-16 October 2003.
The program’s newest national partner, Eritrea, was represented at the meeting by Mr Semere Amlesom, Director General, Eritrea National Agricultural Research Program, who expressed his pleasure at his country’s participation.
He expressed the hope that the regional program can help Eritrea overcome its constraints, namely lack of facilities and insufficient number of qualified scientists, to increase the productivity of the country’s agricultural sector, upon which a vast majority of Eritreans rely for their livelihood.
“The process of pursuing a low-input, low out-put production system should be reversed at the earliest possible time. This can be achieved with the concerted effort of partners, through the collaborative use of technologies that have already been generated by IARCs, ARIs, NARs, and higher learning institutions in our region and in other regions of the world,” Mr Amleson said.
Eritrea joined the regional program in 2003, but has been working directly with ICARDA since the early 1990s. “The country has benefited a lot from the sharing of improved germplasm, through conducting study visits, training courses, both in-country and at ICARDA headquarters, and the hosting of MSc students while doing their research using ICARDA’s facilities and expertise,” Mr Amleson pointed out.
Prof. Dr Elsadig Sullieman, Deputy Director General, Agricultural Research Corporation, Sudan, highlighted some of the benefits the program has brought to Sudan, especially the release of improved crop varieties, including short-season food legumes that increase farm family income and improve nutrition. He also applauded the program’s pioneering work in participatory research and development.
Prof. Dr Sullieman conveyed the regrets and spoke on behalf of ARC’s Director General, Dr El-Azhari Hamada, who could not attend the meeting.
The program’s success is credited to its participatory approach. Farm families help identify and prioritize problems and then contribute to coming up with solutions, in part through participation in on-farm research.
Dr Ismail Muharram, Chairman of the Agricultural Research and Extension Authority, Yemen, said the program is a “good example of problem-solving through cooperation,” and is a good model for other research, development, and extension programs.
In his role as moderator, Dr Habib Halila, NVRSRP Regional Coordinator, took the opportunity to acknowledge the co-founders of the program, Dr Mohamed A. Nour, former ICARDA Director General, and Dr Yousef Walli, now Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Egypt.
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.