ICARDA Caravan, Issue No. 22

News from the Drylands

ICARDA Celebrates Presentation Day 2005

"You are going on a journey to look at the problems of people living in drylands and some of the solutions that the ICARDA family can offer," said Dr Margaret Catley-Carlson, ICARDA Board Chair, in her welcome address to the distinguished guests at the Center's Presentation Day on 1 May 2005. ICARDA's annual Presentation Day brings ministers, ambassadors and other senior officials from embassies in Damascus, leaders of national programs, donor and media representatives and other friends of the Center to receive an update on ICARDA’s progress during the year.

Among the distinguished guests present at ICARDA’s Presentation Day were (right to left): H.E. Dr Adel Safar, Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Syria; H.E. Dr Yousef Abu Safieh, Minister of Environment, Palestine; H.E. Dr Sawsan Al-Sherifi, Minister of Agriculture, Iraq; Prof. Dr Iwao Kobori, United Nations University, Japan, and former Vice-Chair of ICARDA Board of Trustees; and Dr Tom Lumpkin, Director General, the World Vegetable Center, Taiwan.

r Catley-Carlson said that ICARDA's work is multifaceted and not very easy to understand because some of the research is on crops in the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, while other research focuses on crops grown in dry areas around the world. She pointed out the challenges to agricultural research in conflict and post-conflict regions, saying that research capacities are often shattered by conflict. ICARDA has been at the forefront in the CGIAR efforts to examine the issue of rebuilding agriculture in conflict-ridden areas, she said.

Dr Catley-Carlson thanked ICARDA's donors for their continued support that enables the Center to fulfill its mission. "If we didn't have those that express their confidence in ICARDA through financial contributions, the Center would not be working," she said. Dr Catley-Carlson also thanked the Government of Syria for not only hosting the Center, but also for providing it with continued support.

Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA Director General, welcomed the guests and presented an overview of the challenges facing dryland agriculture and how ICARDA is addressing them in collaboration with its partners to improve livelihoods of the poor through agricultural research. He emphasized that poverty in the dry areas of CWANA, if not addressed, will lead to other challenges within the region and beyond. "Recent figures from UNDP indicate that WANA is the second poorest region after Sub-Saharan Africa," he observed. He called for a comprehensive approach to address the problems of poverty in the region.


Dr Margaret Catley-Carlson ICARDA Board-Chair	Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy ICARDA DG	Dr Hans van Ginkel Rector, UNU

The Director General pointed out that ICARDA is seeking to develop a better understanding of rural livelihood strategies through studies of constraints and opportunities, sources of income, access to assets, social and human capital and markets and other institutional infrastructure. "The objective is to provide options for improving the livelihoods of the rural poor through appropriate pro-poor technologies," he said.

Prof. Dr El-Beltagy thanked all donors to ICARDA for their continued support. He expressed special thanks to the people of Aleppo for their hospitality and to the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic for its continued generous support to the Center.

A keynote presentation was made by Dr Hans van Ginkel, Rector of the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan on "Preparing for Complexity: Water Management and Agro-biotechnology in an Increasingly Complex World." Giving the example of water management experiences in the Netherlands, Dr van Ginkel explained the importance of using new tools of science to manage water resources while protecting the environment.

Contents | About ICARDA and the CGIAR | From the Director General
Table of Issues | ICARDA Publications | ICARDA Home