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
29 April 2004
For more information contact:
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
Swiss Grant for Desertification Project

Agreement Signed on Presentation Day
The Government of Switzerland, through the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), has
approved a grant to ICARDA for the research project entitled “Communal Management and Optimization of Mechanized Micro-Catchment Water Harvesting for Combating Desertification in the East Mediterranean Region.” The project is aimed at improving livelihoods and reducing desertification in the marginal steppe areas of Syria and Jordan. The grant agreement was signed at ICARDA on 24 April 2004 by H.E Jacques de Watteville, Ambassador of Switzerland to Syria, and Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA Director General.
    Using a participatory approach, the project aims to develop an institutional framework for community-based implementation and management of micro-catchment water harvesting systems; improve the capacity of communities to manage common natural resources; enhance efficiency and effectiveness of rainwater use; optimize the design parameters of micro-catchment water harvesting systems; and identify the biophysical and socioeconomic parameters for the optimal application of micro-catchment water harvesting.
   Three sites that represent the climatic, land, and socioeconomic conditions of the dry eastern Mediterranean region will be selected for pilot testing. The project will adopt a multidisciplinary approach that addresses issues from biophysical, technical, socioeconomic, cultural, institutional, and policy perspectives and will promote interactions among researchers, extensionists, policy makers, and community leaders.
    The agreement further strengthens the ties between ICARDA and Switzerland, which have included collaboration on such projects as renovation of traditional water supply systems and sustainable management of the agropastoral resource base in the Maghreb.

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
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