ICARDA's innovative integrated natural resource management research project in the Khanasser Valley, Syria, was further developed in 2002. Emphasis was placed on improving the participatory component of the on-going, on-farm research at the site, and on developing an integrative conceptual framework, which is now being used to efficiently coordinate this large multidisciplinary project.

Khanasser Valley Integrated Research Site (KVIRS)

The Khanasser Valley lies approximately 80 km southeast of Aleppo city, and represents an area where the agricultural zone meets the natural rangelands of the steppe. The Valley's diverse ecosystem exhibits several NRM-related problems. Therefore, ICARDA selected Khanasser as an important integrated research site (453 km2), in order to address problems characteristic of marginal, dryland environments. The diversity and dynamics of the natural resources and livelihoods, the prevailing poverty, and the relatively easy access to the Valley, were the main factors influencing the selection of this site.
     Major progress has been made by ICARDA and its partners (the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria and the University of Bonn, Germany) in integrating different sectoral research activities and in involving different stakeholders in the research. The framework found to be invaluable in guiding this process was the Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) approach, which 'aims to improve livelihoods, agro-ecosystem resilience, agricultural productivity and environmental services' (http://www.inrm.cgiar.org). In the KVIRS, the concept was translated into 16 tools, grouped as 'diagnostic,' 'process' and 'problem-solving' tools (Table 24), which, when used at an appropriate time and place, are designed to improve NRM and livelihoods. Most of these tools are already used in the project: those instrumental to the progress made during 2002 are reported here.

Interdisciplinary research is one of the cornerstones of the KVIRS project. Achieving the necessary level of cooperation was initially a major challenge, as the project involved both the study of a large number of issues and bringing together more than 50 scientists and extension agents. The challenge was met by organizing the research according to the most relevant farming enterprises in the Valley-the form of classification which would be understood best by farmers.
     These enterprises included an extensive livestock-barley system, which is the traditional farming practice in Khanasser, and three alternative activities which are fast gaining popularity:
1. Intensive livestock production system (sheep fattening)
2. Annual cash crops (cumin and wheat, as well as annual plants collected from the wild)
3. Fruit trees (mainly olive)
In addition, secondary coordination linkages were set up to study the interactions that occur when natural resources are used by two or more enterprises-e.g. the stony hillsides in the area, which are used for extensive grazing, olive groves and collection of valuable wild plants.
Clustering of research topics, using an interdisciplinary matrix, was a major tool used to clarify the roles of research partners both from within and outside ICARDA. As a result, collaboration with Syrian NARS has intensified, and four memorandums of understanding have been prepared.

Farmer participatory research (FPR)

In 2002, a training workshop on FPR methods was organized to strengthen the capacities of the research and extension staff involved in the KVIRS. The underlying intention was to initiate a shift from supply-driven to demand-driven technology development, and to increase the participation of farmers in the research process. The workshop resulted in the initiation of three different farmer interest groups, separately concerned with olive, cumin and barley growing. This improved researcher-farmer interaction, so increasing the influence farmers exerted on the research agenda. It also led farmers to evaluate proposed technologies, and helped in the identification of local innovators and local technical knowledge. For example, researchers suggested to farmers a new system, which involved (1) not plowing their olive orchards and (2) constructing V-shaped stony-earth bunds around each of their olive trees (to harvest water and to control soil erosion). In practice, however, farmers adapted this technology to their needs. They continued to plow, in order to minimize the growth of weeds (which they felt attract grazing sheep, fuel fires and compete for water with the olive trees). But, they did build V-shaped and/or fishbone shaped earthen bunds around their trees, to collect the water from the furrows. This simple, locally adapted system for soil and water harvesting is now being monitored by researchers to assess its physical and economic efficiency. In such ways, improved farmer-researcher interaction helped researchers to learn more about potential improvements to the technology, while FPR work now complements on-going, controlled, on-farm research.

Diagnostic tools: the multi-level framework

The multi-level framework tool (Fig. 14) was the diagnostic backbone of the project (all the other diagnostic tools are linked and integrated with it). The tool does not list all possible influencing factors but, instead, prioritizes issues which (actually or potentially) constrain the optimum use of technologies or resources, and lists potential solutions. The issues identified are grouped into a 'spatial pillar,' a 'stakeholder pillar' and a 'field-level box,' all linked vertically and horizontally to different degrees. This framework was instrumental in:

• enabling a comprehensive analysis of technologies or resources,
• focusing research time and resources upon strategically important issues,
• addressing all major issues at the right scales and with the right stakeholders, and
• obtaining interdisciplinary cooperation.

     Significant progress has been made in terms of both the 'spatial' and 'stakeholder' pillars. A striking factor is the diversity of livelihood strategies and their responsiveness to new land-use restrictions and resource decline. Our understanding of the status and use of the Valley's natural resources has also progressed significantly, especially with regard to groundwater, hillside vegetation and soil loss through water and wind erosion. In general, there is unsustainable over-use and degradation of natural resources.

Technology development and evaluation

Since the beginning of the project, most emphasis has been placed on finding options for the traditional extensive livestock-barley farming system. In 2002, research was widened to include technologies for alternative farming enterprises (particularly olive and cumin production and sheep fattening). The first results on phosphogypsum and atriplex use in barley fields, and on soil and water harvesting for olive trees, are promising, and will soon be published.