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

28 August 2003
For more information contact: S.Varma@cgiar.org
International Workshop on Drylands
Held in Tashkent

An International Workshop on "Challenges for Drylands in the New Millennium: A Cross-Cutting Approach for Assessment" was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 11-15 August.
     Over 30 experts in dryland management from 15 countries participated in the workshop to capitalize on existing efforts aimed at sustainable development of drylands; explore the role of dryland ecosystem goods and services in promoting such development; and address the challange of desertification from the perspective of "human-induced impairment of the provision of ecosystem goods and services." It was organized jointly by United Nations University (UNU), Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), and ICARDA.


Participants and organizers of the workshop entitled "Challenges for Drylands in the New Millennium: A Cross-Cutting Approach for Assessment," held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 11-15 August.
     At the opening ceremony, Dr Raj Paroda, Regional Coordinator of ICARDA's Central Asia and the Caucasus Program, welcomed the participants on behalf of ICARDA Director General Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy. In his remarks, he assured those gathered that ICARDA is ready to move towards "new opportunities for partnership with other international and national institutions to attain the goal of sustainable development of dryland agriculture for improved livelihood in dryland ecosystems."
     At the opening session, participants were greeted by Dr Zafar Adeel, who represented Dr Hans van Ginkel, Rector, UNU, and Dr Angela Cropper, Co-chair, MA Scientific Assessment Panel. Dr Sherali Nurmatov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Uzbekistan, and Director General, Uzbek Scientific Production Center of Agriculture, addressed the participants and extended warm greetings on behalf of the Government of Uzbekistan. He emphasized the importance of dryland agriculture in Central Asia and expressed appreciation for the joint effort of ICARDA and UNU in organizing the workshop, which has great relevance for sustainability of drylands in all Central Asian countries.

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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