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
30 November 2008
Media contact: icarda-media@cgiar.org
 
ICARDA Board of Trustees Meets
H.E. Muzahim Muhaisin, Jordan's Minister of Agriculture, inaugurates the Board meeting.
The 44th Meeting of ICARDA’s Board of Trustees was held in Amman, Jordan, 11-14 November. The meeting was inaugurated by H.E. Muzahim Muhaisin, Jordan’s Minister of Agriculture.

The Board has three new members: Nader Sheikh Ali, Director General, International Cooperation Division, State Planning Commission, Syria; Petal Somarsingh, Olympus Management, Washington DC, USA; and Paul Steffen, Director, Agroscope Reckenholz-Tanikon Research Station, Switzerland. Dr Steffen attended the meeting as an observer, and will join the Board as a full member in 2009. Two members are retiring from the Board: Shinobu Inanaga has completed his term of office; Majd Jamal leaves the Board to join ICARDA as Assistant Director General, Government Liaison. The Board endorsed Henri Carsalade as Chair-Elect. He will take office in 2010.
ICARDA's Board of Trustees met at Amman, Jordan. Standing, left to right: Houda Nourallah, Executive Secretary to the Board, Aigul Abugalieva, Abdelmajid Slama, Nader Sheikh Ali, Petal Somarsingh, Mahmoud Solh, Director General, ICARDA, David Sammons, Majd Jamal, Henri Carsalade, Board Chair Elect, Kjersti Larsen. Front row, left to right: Shinobu Inanaga, Guido Gryseels, Board Chair, Michel Afram, Paul Steffen, John Coleman.

In his presentation to the Board, Director General Mahmoud Solh summarized key developments since the last Board meeting in May. These include:
•
 New offices. The new South Asia regional office in Delhi, India, was inaugurated in November. Discussions are in progress for opening a Latin America regional office in Chile. An office will be opened in Ethiopia to support research on stem rust Ug99 as well as food legumes.
•
 Strengthening outreach programs. Administrative staff from outreach programs underwent a training workshop at headquarters. We have also improved the connectivity of outreach offices to Oracle applications, to enhance financial reporting.
•
 Management and operations. ICARDA received an unqualified audit report. Senior management attended a seminar on risk management organized by our external auditors.

Dr Solh also highlighted interactions with donors, new partnerships, approval of new grants, and new fundraising initiatives. The Director General and Board Chair have been closely involved in the Working Groups of the CGIAR Change Management process. At the request of the Board, Dr Solh also presented a paper on how ICARDA is responding to the global food crisis. The Board endorsed the paper and asked for an update at their next meeting.

The Board was extremely pleased to see the progress in science quality and consolidation of research programs that was demonstrated in the Program Committee meeting (see page 3). It was also pleased with progress on the implementation of recommendations made by two major reviews: the 5th External Program Management Review and the Center-Commissioned External Review on Management and Finance. The Board commended the Center for improving its financial management and approved the provisional budget for 2009.
H.E. Muhaisin (center) was honored by Guido Gryseels, Board Chair, and Mahmoud Solh, Director General, for his efforts to promote agricultural development in Jordan.
ICARDA has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by the CGIAR Performance Measurement for 2007. The Board Chair congratulated the Director General and all staff, noting that this rating is a reflection of both the quality of science and the Center’s governance and management.

A large part of the Board meeting was spent discussing the CGIAR Change Management process, as presented in the Integrated CGIAR Reform Proposal, and particularly the proposed Terms of Reference for the Consortium Board. A formal statement by the Board on the change management process was drafted for submission to the Alliance and the CGIAR Chair.

The Executive Committee of the Board will meet at ICRISAT in March 2009, to interact with the ICRISAT Board and seek further collaboration and synergies between the two Centers.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for the week of 27 April 2009, culminating in ICARDA Presentation Day on 2 May.

Research presentations
A series of presentations provided the Board with an overview of collaborative work in West Asia. Dr Solh summarized our objectives and strategy in the region. Nasri Haddad, who heads the West Asia regional program, highlighted the major successes achieved. Four technical presentations focused on different aspects:
•
 The Water Benchmark Project: community-based management of scarce water resources (Theib Oweis, Director, Integrated Water and Land Management Program)
•
 Institutionalization of participatory breeding: the Jordan experience (Stefania Grando, Barley Breeder)
•
 Sustainable livelihoods for agropastoral communities: Mashreq/Maghreb Project Phase III (Mohamed El Mourid, Coordinator, North Africa regional program)
•
 Socio-economic and policy research in West Asia (Aden Aw-Hassan, Senior Economist).

Field visit
Board members, along with ICARDA staff, visited Mhareb and Almajyydia villages in the badia areas of central Jordan. These are research sites for the Water Benchmark Project. Project scientists are working with the National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension, other Jordanian institutions, and the community to rehabilitate degraded rangelands. Water harvesting structures are built using the Vallerani machine. Indigenous shrubs are planted in the ‘micro-catchments’, to arrest erosion and provide fodder for livestock.

The community participates fully in all project activities. During interactions with the Board, community leaders and other project partners expressed their satisfaction with the results, and asked to participate in more collaborative projects with ICARDA.

Field visit to research sites in Mhareb and Almajyydia villages. Feedback was very positive; the communities as well as partner organizations would like activities to be expanded.

The Board commended progress being made on various fronts – science quality, research strategy and planning, and financial management.
 

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.org) is one of the 15 international research centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ICARDA 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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