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
25 January 2007
                             Media contact: Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
 
Small Grants Program Supports Community Projects in Syria
  ICARDA and its partners have won funding from the GEF Small Grants Program for a 3-year project to combat rangeland degradation in Syria. The proposal was developed by ICARDA's Seed Unit on behalf of the Jub Ali El-Ahmed Range and Livestock Community (JAARLC) in Syria.
Staff from ICARDA and the Syrian Integrated Range Development Project worked closely with the Jub Ali El-Ahmed community to demarcate a piece of severely degraded rangeland for rehabilitation. Left to right: Nabil Batikha, Fahim Ghassali, Khaled Aghab, Nawaf El Eibish, Abdoul Aziz Niane.

The community lies in the steppe area in Jub El-Sar area in El Safireh, Menbej district of Aleppo province. It consists of 400 households with 37,000 ha of severely degraded land, 80,000 sheep, and few livelihood options. Livelihoods are based almost entirely on livestock, and have been affected by the damage caused by opportunistic cultivation of barley – which is banned because it accelerates rangeland degradation.

ICARDA and national partners in CWANA have carried out intensive research to generate ‘best bet’ technologies to stop and even reverse range degradation. Nevertheless, practical solutions still need to be found for technology transfer in the complex situation of common-property resources such as rangelands. The new project in Syria is designed to address this challenge.

The JAARLC will receive US$50,000 from the GEF Small Grants Program in Syria to implement efficient, effective and sustainable range rehabilitation and management options on community land. The project will be implemented by ICARDA's Seed Unit in close cooperation with multidisciplinary teams from MP3 and MP4.
 

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.

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