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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.org
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Media contact: Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
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ICARDA
at AGM05
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ICARDA, as the host CGIAR Center in the region, was pleased to be associated with Morocco in welcoming about 1000 participants to the meeting. They included agricultural scientists and development experts, policy makers, NGOs, representatives of civil society organizations and the private sector, farmers, and media personnel from CWANA and elsewhere in the world. The theme of the Science Forum at AGM05 was “Global Agricultural Science for Impact.”
The first day of the meeting, December 5, was designated as “Centers and Members Day.” The day started with welcome remarks by Dr Uzo A. Mokwunye, Chair, Center Board Chairs Committee; opening remarks by Dr Ian Johnson, CGIAR Chair; a centers’ overview by Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA DG; highlights of achievements by Dr William Dar, ICRISAT DG and outgoing Chair of Center Directors Committee (CDC)—renamed as Alliance Executive (AE); and a presentation of the future plans by Dr Joachim Voss, CIAT DG and incoming Chair of the AE. The AGM05 was formally opened by H.E. Driss Jettou, Prime Minister of Morocco, in the afternoon, following which he opened the CGIAR exhibition. Strengthening Partnerships for Agricultural Development On 7 December, a special session was organized on “Perspectives from Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA): Challenges and Opportunities.” Dr Adel Safar, Minister of Agriculture, Syria, chaired the session, and Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA DG, delivered a keynote presentation. In his presentation, Prof. Dr El-Beltagy welcomed the CGIAR members and other distinguished participants to the CWANA session. He then highlighted the challenges facing the region. Globally, water poverty, land degradation and loss of biodiversity, population growth, unemployment, and food imports are among the highest in CWANA, he said. Considering all dimensions of poverty, CWANA comes second to sub-Saharan Africa. Political instability and conflict is further contributing to natural resource degradation, loss of lives, and food shortages. These forces are combining to drive a mass migration from CWANA to industrialized countries. The agroecologies in the region are diverse, and agriculture faces a vast array of biotic and abiotic stresses. The national capacities are also disparate—for example, while Egypt had 14,320 graduate scientific staff during 1996 to 1998, Eritrea had only 116. The lack or scarcity of scientific and technical staff in most countries results in unbalanced research activities and poor linkages with global agricultural research and development agencies. A recent ICARDA-commissioned study revealed that the average investment on agricultural research for 18 WANA countries was only 0.41% of the Gross Domestic Product. This is much below the recommended level of l.5%. The CGIAR allocation for the region is also low—only 9% of the total resources. As more than 40% of the population in the region depends on agriculture for its livelihood, agriculture can serve as an engine for development. The key lies in devising ways for producers, and especially the poor majority, to gain greater benefits from agriculture, Prof. Dr El-Beltagy said. Strategic approaches for agricultural research to alleviate poverty are through (i) improved technologies for increased production and sustainable conservation of natural resources; (ii) diversified farming systems that reduce risk, increase resource-use efficiency, and improve returns to farmers; (iii) improved vertical integration from producer to consumer; and (iv) institutional and policy reforms. Advances in scientific knowledge across a broad range of disciplines are required to develop more and better food and fiber products with improved nutritional quality, reduce food and commodity yield losses due to pests and diseases and drought, ensure healthy livestock, promote a sustainable agricultural sector, manage on-farm water use more efficiently, prevent and reverse land degradation and conserve and efficiently manage biodiversity. “We now have new tools of science, particularly biotechnology and information technology, to accomplish this,” Prof. Dr El-Beltagy said. The region has the distinction of being the birth place of three major religious thoughts—Christianity, Judaism and Islam—which, in essence, all teach humanity to live in peace and harmony. It is unfortunate that, today, the same region has become a central stage of unrest and insecurity. The scientific community, through a global alliance, can generate new knowledge and apply it to transform agriculture and remove hunger and poverty, which are recognized as key drivers of conflict and unrest. Given the multiple challenges that CWANA faces, it deserves much greater support to improve the quality of life of its populations and bring back peace and tranquility, said Prof. Dr El-Beltagy in conclusion. Prof. Dr El-Beltagy’s presentation was well received, and was supplemented by comments from Dr Abdel Nabi Fardous, President, AARINENA; H.E. Dr Abdushukur Khanazarov, President, CACAARI; Dr Mohamed Roozitalab, Chair, GFAR; and Dr Usha Barwale-Zehr, Chair, PSC (Private Sector Committee) of the CGIAR. CGIAR Science Awards
Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Chairman, CDC Task Force for CAC, chaired the meeting. Dr Kevin Cleaver from the World Bank; Dr Franklyn Moore from USAID; Dr Tumurdavaa Bayarsaihan from ADB; Dr Carl-Gustaf Thornstrom from Sida/SAREC; Ms. Ikhlass Najib, from the OPEC Fund for International Development; H.E. Dr Adel Safar, Minister of Agriculture, Syria; H.E. Dr Jafar Khalghani, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Iran; H.E. Dr Abdushukur Khanazarov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Uzbekistan; Dr Thomas Lumpkin, Director General, AVRDC; Dr Mohammad Al-Attar, Director General, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture; and Dr Mohammad Roozitalab, Chairman, GFAR, were among the distinguished participants. In his opening remarks, Prof. Dr El-Beltagy said the CGIAR Program for CAC was established in 1998, when the CGIAR decided to expand its geographic mandate to cover the region and invited ICARDA to organize and lead a Consortium of the CG centers to address the problems of agriculture in the region. He expressed satisfaction with the significant achievements made by the Program, which involves nine CG centers, two international research institutions from outside the CGIAR, and eight CAC NARS. Dr Raj Paroda, Head, PFU-CGIAR for CAC and Regional Coordinator, ICARDA, made a comprehensive presentation of the Program achievements and activities. Dr Cleaver congratulated the Program partners and said he was happy to note the significant achievements. He emphasized that the Program could be used as a model of excellent partnership and coordination by the CGIAR in other regions including sub-Saharan Africa. Ms. Ikhlass Najib said the CAC Program was an example of great success achieved jointly by the CGIAR and ICARDA. Dr Franklyn Moore also appreciated the impressive achievements of the Program. Replying to a question from Dr Moore on the Program’s spillover benefits, Dr Khanazarov referred to the well-established cooperation between scientists and farmers—a result of participatory activities of several projects. The CAC farmers, he said, are now keen to work hand-in-hand with the scientists. Dr Bayarsaihan considered the CAC Program to be crucial for future agricultural development in the region and outlined the main elements of its success, such as research priority setting, well-established coordination, and mature leadership. He also emphasized the need for addressing policy and market research issues and hoped that the regional cooperation among NARS would be sustained. Dr Thornstrom said that Sida/SAREC was planning to strengthen its activities in CAC after the upcoming mission in April 2006. Dr Michael Stahl, Director, International Foundation for Science (IFS), expressed his interest in initiating support for research equipment and networking in the CAC region. Dr Lumpkin said he was happy to see the successful start of AVRDC activities in CAC and emphasized the importance of crop diversification, in view of the large irrigated area in the region. Dr Al-Attar said he was happy with the progress achieved by the Program and expressed his appreciation to the donor community, especially OPEC Fund, for providing financial support for training CAC scientists in biosaline agriculture. The participants were impressed by various posters and publications displayed during the meeting, which highlighted the achievements of the CG centers and other partners. The meeting ended with assurances from donor representatives and other partners of their continued support to the Program. Special Session on Global Rust Initiative A special session on Global Rust Initiative (GRI) was jointly organized by ICARDA, CIMMYT, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (EARO) and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), also on 5 December. The session was co-chaired by the CIMMYT Board Chair, Dr Lene Lenge, and KARI Director General, Dr Romano Kiome.
UG99 is a super race, as it attacks most cultivated wheat varieties grown worldwide, including those from USA, Canada, Australia, and China. If UG99 becomes endemic in CWANA, the losses could translate to more than US dollars 2 billion. More than 6000 wheat genotypes were evaluated in Njoro, Kenya, in 2005 and six sources of resistance identified. Both ICARDA and CIMMYT have initiated a ‘shuttle breeding program’ involving Mexico, Kenya, Syria and Ethiopia to develop wheat varieties resistant to UG99. A revised agreement of collaboration between ICARDA and CIMMYT was signed by the DGs of the respective centers, in the presence of their Board Chairs. A GRI Secretariat has been established by CIMMYT and ICARDA to coordinate the UG99 control activities. Five concept notes were offered to participants at the session for possible funding for research on the control of UG99.
In her introductory remarks, Dr Catley-Carlson said, “Adel is a remarkable man. We have gathered here this afternoon to felicitate him for the extraordinary things he has done for ICARDA during the past over 10 years.” He will be stepping down in May, and will take over the role of Chair of the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR), she said. The session was marked by two seminars in honor of Prof. Dr El-Beltagy. The first, on “A Systematic and Quantitative Approach to Improve Water-Use Efficiency in Agriculture”, was delivered by Dr Theodore C. Hsiao, Professor Emeritus, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, USA. The second seminar, on the “Role of Biotechnology in Addressing Water Scarcity in Dry Areas of the World”, was delivered by Dr Marc van Montagu, Professor Emeritus, Ghent University, Belgium. Several others spoke on the occasion. Excerpts from their comments (edited) are presented here.
H.E. Dr Jafar Khalghani, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Iran, said, “My gratitude goes to Dr Beltagy’s wise and dynamic leadership. His key role in enhancing Iran-ICARDA bilateral activities in the past 10 years has been highly significant and instrumental in promoting collaboration in research. It represents an example of true partnership with the CGIAR.” Dr Khalghani then presented an Iranian carpet to Prof. Dr El-Beltagy. Iran-ICARDA bilateral activities in the past 10 years has been highly significant and instrumental in promoting collaboration in research. It represents an example of true partnership with the CGIAR.” Dr Khalghani then presented an Iranian carpet to Prof. Dr El-Beltagy.
Dr Abdel Nabi Fardous, President, AARINENA, and Director General, NCARTT, said: “Dr El-Beltagy is a gentleman and a source of inspiration to us all. He has committed a great part of his life to the service of the people in the region and beyond, which has made a difference to us in moving forward. I hope he will continue to be involved in agricultural research and development. I am honored to speak about him this evening, and I wish him all the best.” Prof. H. P. M. Gunasena, Chairman of APAARI (Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutes), praised Prof. Dr El-Beltagy for his active role in promoting interregional cooperation. The collaboration between ICARDA and APAARI is marked by several achievements that have helped the poor farmers in developing countries improve their agricultural production and income, he said.
“This is why he is so popular and respected by many NARS leaders. The presence of so many NARS from different regions in this meeting is evidence of his excellence. “His tireless efforts to provide support to the NARS in Afghanistan and all countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus are living examples of his strong commitment to assist the NARS.
Dr Mohamed Al-Attar, Director General of ICBA, described Dr El-Beltagy as a “most distinguished professional.” He advocated the establishment of an institution wholly devoted to biosaline agriculture—ICBA—long before it was established, said Dr Al-Attar.
Dr Pinstrup Per-Anderson, Chair, Science Council, said, “I’m so glad to hear that you’re going to be with us within the CGIAR extended family. I enjoyed interacting with you, enjoyed our many conversations, our many discussions. But even when we disagreed on something, I felt our friendship was intact; we have maintained that in our discussions. When I was at IFPRI, we had some very successful collaboration with ICARDA because of Adel’s very constructive, very positive outlook. I thank him for the hospitality that he has shown to me and to the Science Council, and to everyone who has visited ICARDA. I look forward to working with you hopefully for many years to come.” Response by Prof. Dr El-Beltagy Responding to the remarks made by various speakers in his honor, Prof. Dr El-Beltagy said, “I am overwhelmed by what has been said about me. I am indebted to ICARDA Board of Trustees for organizing this session. Magie and all ICARDA Board Members and staff have contributed to the achievements of the Center. I thank everyone. I specially thank colleagues from Uzbekistan and Iran, from AARINENA, ICBA, and the Chairman of GFAR, who are present with us, as well as all CWANA NARS, with whom we work closely. My special appreciation is due to several research workers from Morocco. I feel proud that the first AGM in CWANA is being held in Morocco. We have had very cordial relations with Morocco. All my life I have seen myself as a passerby, so I never put my name on the doors of the offices I have served. “I wish to recognize two persons who are with us in this session: (1) Dr Hoceine Faraj, former Director of INRA-Morocco, and a former Board Member of ICARDA, and (2) Dr Abdulaziz Arifi, also former Director General of INRA-Morocco. “What has been important for us is the service to national programs—they are dear to us. Scientists and administration in ICARDA have great respect for our NARS colleagues, and we have inherited this tradition from my predecessors. We work with them as partners, and this has been preserved through the years. “We feel that we are still only scratching the surface as far as agriculture in the dry areas is concerned, and as far as CWANA is concerned. A lot more work needs to be done and this is what Bob Havener said in his speech at the 25th Anniversary of ICARDA. “I am indebted to everyone in this room, wonderful men and women whom I have known through the years and benefited from their wisdom, ideas, and counsel, as well as, sometimes, debates. Who wins in a debate does not matter but a healthy dialog on how we can serve others better is always useful. If one is egocentric, one cannot serve. You can serve only when there are other objectives beyond yourself as a person, and beyond the institution. I thank you again for your presence and your kind words.”
In her introductory remarks, Dr Catley-Carlson, referring to Bob and Adel, said, “The two men had huge respect for each other, and listened to each other. They both felt frustrated and enraged by the fact that dryland agriculture is not exploited to its full potential to make the lives of millions of people better.” H.E. Dr Abdushukur Khanazarov said, “Although Dr Harvener is not with us anymore, his spirit will continue to be with us. We are indebted to him for his great vision and outstanding support to the CGIAR Program for CAC. He was a great champion of the developing world. We will miss him, and we pray to God almighty to rest his soul in peace.”
Dr Bob Zeigler, Director General, IRRI, said, “I first knew Bob when he was on the CIAT board, and it was amazing. When CIAT was having a problem, Bob always came in to stabilize the place and recapture the confidence of the scientists to get them moving together forward. He had to go through some very difficult times, for example, when one of the international staff was kidnapped, but Bob was able to hold the center together. He was good to his friends and colleagues, and had a great sense of commitment, dedication, giving, and caring. He had the great sense of understanding of what CGIAR is all about. I was very fortunate to work closely with Bob when he was at IRRI. He was somebody you could take the wisdom from, and say this is deeper wisdom. We will all miss Bob deeply.”
Dr Al-Attar said, “Bob was genuinely interested in the research activities of ICBA, and was gracious enough to visit the Center with Adel. There was one unique thing that prevailed in the atmosphere when he was around: cheerfulness. He will be sorely missed by all of us.” Prof. Dr El-Beltagy then made a comprehensive speech in which he said, “I feel greatly humbled on this occasion in paying tribute to a great personality – Dr. Robert D. Havener, whom we fondly called Bob, and who was a true friend of all of us.
“Bob was a man with special charm. His voice was firm, his judgments good, his advice had both wit and wisdom. No room, no meeting, no occasion failed to become a better place when he and Liz were present. He adored and cherished Liz, and Liz was a great support to him and loved him deeply. She accompanied him on his business travel to take that extra care that he needed. Meeting Liz has always been a great pleasure for all of us. We are happy that she could make it to Marrakech, with her grandson Tyler, to join us in paying our respects to Bob. “Bob had a special place for ICARDA in his heart. He was not only one of the founding fathers and a member of the first Board of Trustees of ICARDA, but he was also one who guided its development into a ‘Center of Excellence.’
“The Future Harvest Alliance Executive has decided to commemorate his contributions to the CG Centers and the international agricultural research by instituting a Series of Robert D. Havener Memorial Lectures, the first of which would be organized at ICARDA in May 2006. “Bob is no more with us, but his legacy would always remain with us. This legacy, however, goes much beyond the confines of ICARDA and CWANA. It serves as a beacon of light for all those who are in the business of improving the lot of the less and under-privileged and the resource poor, anywhere and everywhere in the developing world, through agricultural research and development. The best tribute that we could pay to Bob is by dedicating ourselves to the ideals that he adhered to during his illustrious professional career of nearly five decades. May his soul rest in peace.” To end the session, everybody in the room stood in silence to pray for the departed soul to rest in peace.
Session on the Importance of Crop Genetic Improvement Another parallel session, held on 5 December, was devoted to “Water-Use Efficiency: Importance of Genetic Improvement and Implementation of Appropriate Crop Management Strategies.” Organized by 10 participating CGIAR Centers and one Challenge Program, the session was co-chaired by Dr Hamid Narjisse, Director General of INRA-Morocco, and Dr Masa Iwanaga, Director Genral of CIMMYT. Dr John Dodds, DDG of CIMMYT, made introductory remarks. Dr William Erskine, ICARDA ADG (Research) made a presentation on “Approaches to the Genetic Improvement of Water Productivity” and Dr Dyno Keatinge, ICRISAT DDG, made a presentation on “Agro-Management.” The presentations were well received and generated much interest and support for this inter-center initiative. Meetings with Donor Representatives Members of ICARDA Board of Trustees and senior management took the opportunity to hold meetings with donor representatives to update them with the research activities, achievements and future plans of the Center. Special donor briefs were prepared by Dr Elizabeth Bailey, ICARDA Project Officer, for use during the meetings with donor representatives. Donor representatives met included those from CIDA, Canada; DFID, UK; DANIDA, Denmark; EMBRAPA, Brazil; IFAD; JIRCAS; SAREC, Sweden; GTZ, Germany; Switzerland; Austria; Syngenta Foundation; OPEC Fund for International Development; and USAID.
ICARDA Booth The posters, publications and CDs at ICARDA’s display booth attracted a large number of visitors, including donor representatives, policy makers and other senior government officials, researchers, teachers, students and media personnel. Dr Suren Varma manned the booth and answered questions from the visitors. The booth was useful in promoting ICARDA’s work, and in making new friends and contacts.
Meeting of the Marketing Group The Marketing Group (MG) of the CGIAR, consisting of communication and resource mobilizaion professionals from all CG centers, as well as some donor representatives, met on 2-3 December. Dr Suren Varma, Head of CODIS, participated in the meeting. Among the work plan for 2006, the MG identified the “Year of Deserts and Desertification” as one of the subjects for a variety of activities to promote the awareness of the challenges of desertification and contributions of the CGIAR centers to combat it. ICARDA, along with ICRISAT, was identified to lead the initiative. Session on Farmers as Research and Technology Transfer Partners On 5 December, one of the parallel sessions under the theme Strengthening Research-for-Development was devoted to “Farmers as Research and Technology Transfer Partners.”
Dr Joy Hutcheon (UK) chaired the session and made introductory remarks on the role that farmers can play in planning and implementing agricultural research and technology transfer programs.
Dr Salvatore Ceccarelli, ICARDA barley breeder and PRGA PPB facilitator, then made the keynote presentation, in which he shared ICARDA’s experience in the CWANA region. The presentation was followed by interventions by three farmers: Ms. Yussra Al-Saggar from Jordan, Mr Abed El Latif El Khaled from Syria, and Mr Kewila Omar Kewila Hamad from Egypt; and by Dr Kanayo Nwanze, Director General, Africa Rice Center. This was followed by discussion and interventions by donor representatives and scientists. For more information contact: Dr Suren Varma |
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About
ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.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 countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations supporting15 international research centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.