ICARDA Caravan, Issue No. 22

From the Director General

he Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region is characterized by a high population growth rate, low and erratic rainfall, limited arable land, and scarce water resources. The region is the second poorest in the world, with about 150 million people or 20% of the population living on less than one dollar a day. Poverty is more severe in the low-income countries such as Djibouti, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. Most of the poor in this region live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

Since time immemorial, livestock production has been a key source of livelihoods for most of the rural communities in CWANA. The region has the world's largest contiguous area of rangelands, about 828 million hectares in West Asia and North Africa and 260 million hectares in Central Asia.

Rapid population growth on the one hand, and increased affluence in some parts of the region on the other, especially in the Gulf countries, are contributing to a sharp increase in demand for livestock products. Meat imports are expected to increase from 0.946 million tons in 1997 to 1.767 million tons in 2020. Net imports of sheep and goat milk, and poultry eggs, are also expected to increase sharply in the years to come.

The increased demand for livestock products should be good news for the small producers whose livelihoods depend on crop and livestock production systems. However, studies by ICARDA researchers indicate that the small producers must overcome several obstacles before they can reap benefits from the ever-increasing demand for livestock products. These include improvements in productivity, value addition, marketing and sustaining the natural resource base.

In West Asia and North Africa (WANA), the major challenge to livestock production is the dwindling feed sources. The increase in small ruminant numbers is subjecting the already degraded rangelands to further degradation, and farmers are facing an acute shortage of feed. To support resource-poor farmers, therefore, there is an urgent need to both regenerate the rangelands and provide alternative sources of low-cost feed, such as cactus and feed blocks made from agricultural by-products.

Another challenge facing small producers in WANA is linking themselves to the changing markets. Productivity improvements alone are not enough to sustain their livelihoods if their products cannot compete in the marketplace. ICARDA researchers are working with national programs and producers to enable them identify low-cost value additions to process their livestock products and improve the quality of their outputs to enable them to meet consumer tastes and compete in the market. Linking farmers to markets is a key pathway to escape from poverty.

In Central Asia, challenges to livestock production are different. The collapse of the Soviet Union brought about a disruption of the production and marketing systems, with an overall effect of huge reductions in livestock numbers, reaching 70% in some countries. The former state-owned large farms and cooperatives, which had an assured market within the Soviet Union, have been replaced by smallholder production enterprises. Though the region has vast rangelands, the smallholder enterprises have limited capacity to utilize the distant range and are compelled to have their animals graze the nearby village rangelands, leaving the bigger range underutilized. The agricultural research system is also undergoing reorientation in response to the emerging market-based economy. Many challenges still remain, and ICARDA is working with NARS in Central Asia to develop viable solutions.

This issue of Caravan provides examples of ICARDA's work with its partners to help ensure sustainability of livelihoods for the poor in marginal areas. The focus of our research goes beyond production options to diversification and markets, reflected in our new programmatic structure which we implemented starting January 2005. Our research portfolio is now reorganized into six mega-projects, namely, management of scarce water resources; agrobiodiversity conservation and germplasm improvement; combating desertification; the diversification of rural livelihoods; poverty and livelihoods analysis; and knowledge management and dissemination. In addition, emphasis is being placed on improved income generation from high value crops and by adding value to staple crop and livestock products; rehabilitating agriculture in conflict/post-conflict situations; and closer alignment of agricultural research with mainstream development programs through research for development applications.

ICARDA strongly believes that working in partnership with national programs, regional and international agricultural research institutions and other stakeholders, the Center can help the countries in CWANA and other dry areas of the world meet the Millennium Development Goals related to agriculture and poverty alleviation.

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy
Director General

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