CARAVAN 17

December 2002

World Summit on Sustainable Development

ICARDA hosted and took part in numerous important meetings in 2002. Among these was the “World Summit on Sustainable Development,” held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August and September. Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy represented ICARDA as a CGIAR delegate, and made a presentation in which he highlighted the role of agriculture in improving the quality of life of the poor, in protecting the natural resource base, and in promoting economic growth.
Environmentalists, academicians, and agriculturalists met at ICARDA in May for an international workshop entitled “Desertification: Rehabilitation of Degraded Drylands and Biosphere Reserves.”
Environmentalists and agriculturalists joined forces again at ICARDA in May for a workshop entitled

ICARDA was privileged to have two opportunities to make statements at plenary sessions of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy (fourth from left, front table), ICARDA DG, made a statement on behalf of the CGIAR at the plenary on 30 August, and another statement at the plenary on 29 August devoted to regional implementation of the WSSD action plan (above).

“Agriculture, Environment and Human Welfare in West Asia and North Africa.” The workshop was organized in cooperation with the International Geosphere Biosphere Program and the International Dryland Development Commission.
The fourth meeting of the Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) Task Force of the CGIAR was held at ICARDA headquarters in September. INRM is one of the three pillars of the CGIAR’s agenda, along with integrated gene management and information technology.

Donors, researchers, and development administrators met at ICARDA headquarters to consider a draft regional program for sustainable development of rainfed areas of West Asia and North Africa. It was a follow-up to a ministerial meeting held in Rabat, Morocco, in June.
In November, ICARDA was the featured CGIAR Center at the Tri-Society Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), held in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Several ICARDA scientists presented papers and posters. Prof. Dr El-Beltagy was the guest speaker at a special symposium on “Collaborative Strategy to Combat Drought.”

Participants in the “International Workshop on Desertification: Rehabilitation of Degraded Drylands and Biosphere Reserves.” The workshop, organized and sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Programme on Man and the Biosphere; United Nations University; and ICARDA, was held at the Center’s headquarters at Tel Hadya on 2-3 May 2002.