ICARDA
continues to maintain strong and mature partnerships with NARS in the dry
areas of CWANA and beyond. These close relationships widen the scope of the
Center’s research and training efforts on germplasm improvement and natural
resource management, ensuring that transfer of technology is effective, and
sustainable increases in agricultural productivity are made. Making the most
of the strengths of national systems, ICARDA also bridges any gaps by providing
new germplasm and technical backstopping, and offering human resource development
programs.
International
Cooperation
ICARDA Regional Programs
In
2001, as part of a CGIAR System-wide effort, ICARDA, NARS, and sub-regional
organizations in CWANA began to revisit the agricultural research priorities
of the region with a view to integrating CGIAR activities within identified
regional priorities. ICARDA already follows a sub-regional research approach
in the different agroecologies of CWANA and plays a coordinating role in finding
solutions to problems of agriculture in dry areas. The current Regional Programs
address the needs of the following sub-regions in CWANA: North Africa, Nile
Valley and Red Sea, West Asia, Arabian Peninsula, Highlands, and Central Asia
and the Caucasus. The Latin America Regional Program implements ICARDA’s
global mandate in the dry areas in that region.
Two major declarations in support of agricultural research and investment in
rainfed areas of CWANA occurred in 2001. The first, the Issyk-kul Declaration,
resulted from a ministerial meeting in CAC, and supports investment in agricultural
research to enhance development in Central Asia and the Caucasus region. The
second, the Rabat Declaration, was the major outcome of a similar meeting in
Morocco, and calls for increased attention to, and investment on, agricultural
research in the dry areas of WANA.
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