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: www.icarda.cgiar.org
For
more information contact:
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
Inaugural Meeting of the CGIAR Science Council held at ICARDA
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| Dr Per Pinstrup-Andersen (second from left) addressing the participants at the inaugural session of the Science Council meeting |
At the opening session of the SC meeting, Dr Per Pinstrup-Andersen, SC Chairman, said the Council enjoys a lot of goodwill from all stakeholders and the expectations are high. He called upon Council members to discuss all issues openly and in depth. Emphasizing that the SC will work as a transparent and consultative group, Dr Pinstrup-Andersen said, "We are going to say what we want to say; we owe that to the System." He thanked ICARDA for hosting the inaugural meeting of the Council.
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The
Science Council meeting in progress
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Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General, welcomed the SC members to ICARDA and called upon them to exercise independence, courage and sincerity in their work. He said that as the CG System is undergoing a transition, thousands of scientists are looking to the SC for wisdom and guidance. The SC should help the CG System go through the change process without diverting from its central goal—that of helping to bridge the gap between the have's and have-not's in the world.
The SC generously allowed a 4-hour slot in its program in the forenoon of 14 May to familiarize itself with the work of ICARDA. The program included presentations and visit to ICARDA facilities.
Prof. Dr El-Beltagy, and Dr Willie Erskine, ADG (Research), made presentations on the evolving research agenda and priorities of ICARDA. Dr El-Beltagy said that ICARDA is constantly repositioning its work to respond to changes in the external environment. Its work contributes to the Millennium Development Goals, especially the goal of eradicating poverty and hunger and improving livelihoods of rural communities. Within CWANA, he said, water poverty is increasing and the fragile natural resource base is under threat of continued degradation. The problem is likely to become more challenging as, with the global climate change, the dry areas are expected to become drier and hotter. ICARDA is, therefore, addressing the challenges of increasing water scarcity, desertification and biodiversity loss, and is promoting income generation through crop diversification. In addition, the Center is working to help rebuild the agricultural sector in the countries of the region that have been devastated by conflicts. The DG paid tribute to ICARDA scientists who have continued to work with devotion and courage amidst difficult situations.
Dr Erskine briefed the SC on the current program priorities of the Center. He said that ICARDA is working on integrating its work around six mega-themes that are of great importance to the CWANA region: (i) water, (ii) desertification and drought, (iii) agrobiodiversity conservation, (iv) crop diversification for income generation, (v) knowledge management, and (vi) poverty alleviation. He emphasized that the Center has always worked very closely with national agricultural research systems (NARS) with a view to build their capacity and ensure sustainability of activities in the region. With its six Regional Programs, which permit a research continuum between the scientists at headquarters and partners in national programs, ICARDA is in effect a "Center without Walls."
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| Members of the Science Council and its Secretariat |
The visit covered the biotechnology laboratory, GIS laboratory, pest bio-control laboratory, the genetic resources unit, the small-ruminant research unit including the milk processing facility, and field sites for germplasm enhancement and water management trials. Farmer-participatory research for developing crop varieties adapted to harsh production environments, and adoption of community approach and bench-mark sites for integrated management of natural resources was the main focus of the presentations by ICARDA scientists. The work on Seed Production System Development and Capacity Building was also presented. At each site, the SC participants engaged in substantive discussions with the scientists.
As the successor to the Interim Science Council (iSC) and the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), the mission of the nine-member Science Council is to enhance and promote the quality, relevance and impact of science in the CGIAR, to advise the Group on strategic scientific issues of importance to its goals, and to mobilize and harness the best of science to address the goals of the international agricultural research community.
The Science Council members are: Dr Virender Lal Chopra, President, National Academy of Agricultural Science, India; Dr Alain de Janvry, Professor, University of California at Berkeley, USA; Dr Kenneth Fischer, Adjunct Professor, School of Land and Food Science, University of Queensland, Australia; Dr Michael Gale, Emeritus Fellow, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, UK; Dr Hans Gregersen, ret. Professor, University of Minnesota; Dr Richard Harwood, Professor, Michigan State University, USA; Dr Keiji Kainuma, Executive Research Advisor, National Food Research Institute, Japan; Dr Onesmo K. ole-MoiYoi, Director, Research and Partnerships, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Kenya; and, Dr Lisa Sennerby-Forsse, Secretary General, the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), Sweden.
The meeting was attended by all the members of the SC except Dr Kainouma, who sent apologies. The Center Directors Committee (CDC) was represented by the ICARDA DG, and the Committee of Board Chairs (CBC) by the Board Chair of ILRI (Dr John Vercoe). The DG of ILRI (Dr Carlos Sere), and the DG (Dr Ron Cantrell) and Board Chair (Dr Keijiro Otsuka) of IRRI also attended. Other invited participants included Drs Ruben Echeverria, Brian Johnson, Gabrielle Persley, Richard Flavell, and Peter Gardner. Members of the SC Secretariat present were Dr Timothy Kelley, Dr Sirkka Immonen, who were supported by Ms Rosanna Corazzi and Ms Colleen Boland. The CGIAR Secretariat was represented by Ms Fiona Douglas.
Donor representatives attending the meeting were Mr Luc Sas (Belgium), Mr Jacob Thoppil (CIDA, Canada), Mr Harry Palmier (France), Dr Marlene Diekmann (Germany), Ms Annamaria Belli (Italy), Mr Jonathan Wadsworth (DFID, UK) and Ms Meredith Soule (USIAD).
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Visit
of the Science Council Meeting Participants to ICARDA
Laboratories and the Farm |
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Biotechnology
Laboratory
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Entomology
Laboratory
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Seed
Processing Laboratory
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Dairy
Processing Laboratory
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Small-Ruminant
Improvement Laboratory
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Gene
Bank
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Water
Harvesting and Water-Use Efficiency Research
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Discussion
on Participatory Plant Breeding
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Dr
Lisa Sennerby-Forsse coming out of an underground qanat at Tel-Hadya
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About
ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org)
serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil,
and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management
of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep
and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central
and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible for the
improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes
and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of the natural
resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.
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.