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
7 August 2008
Media contact: icarda-media@cgiar.org
 
Strengthening Bonds with the OPEC Fund
H.E. Suleiman Al Herbish, Director General of the OPEC Fund for International Development.
H.E. Suleiman Al Herbish has been appointed Director General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) for a second five-year term, commencing on 1 November 2008. Under his leadership, OFID has continued to grow, helping to improve health, nutrition, welfare and livelihoods of the poor.

Dr Mahmoud Solh, ICARDA Director General, met with H.E. Al Herbish at the OFID headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on 17 July, to congratulate him on his re-appointment, and to discuss opportunities for expanding research collaboration betwen ICARDA and OFID. Greater collaboration is particularly important today, when food security is raising concerns at national and global levels.

ICARDA is one of the many institutions that has benefited from long-term OFID support. This covers a range of research, development and training activities led by the Center, that have helped improve agricultural productivity, livelihoods, and resource use in dry areas. For example, major projects supported by OFID (jointly with AFESD and IFAD), include:
- Management of water resources in West Asia and North Africa (WANA)
- Scaling up of participatory barley breeding in the WANA region
- Natural resources management and improvement of production systems in the Arabian Peninsula

Given the excellent results achieved so far – and the need to build on these results – we are optimistic that ties between the two institutions will continue to expand.
 

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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