ICARDA Caravan, Issue No. 23

From the Director General

Desertification is an extreme form of land degradation, usually caused by a combination of climatic factors and human activity. The damage to the ecosystem increases progressively, eventually crossing a threshold, beyond which restoration becomes impossible or prohibitively expensive. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 41% of the world's land area is threatened, to varying degrees. Over 2 billion people are affected.

The United Nations has declared 2006 as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification (IYDD). Many national and international organizations are helping to create increased awareness among policy makers; and build stronger links between research institutions, and between research and development agencies, to understand the causes and combat desertification. Knowledge is being created and shared; but much more remains to be done. As the global Center for agricultural research in the dry areas, which are the most vulnerable, ICARDA is at the forefront of the battle against desertification.

One problem is the level of complexity. Desertification is not simply about high temperatures or low rainfall. Economic and social factors, land use policy, topography, biodiversity, local institutions, all play a role.

This issue of Caravan looks at different aspects of desertification; and how ICARDA and its partners are working together to help farming communities find effective, sustainable solutions. These collaborative efforts have generated significant impacts at community level – higher crop yields, more sustainable farming systems, more income-generating opportunities for the poor. Equally important, they have yielded insights into the basic processes and impacts of desertification, and on factors that determine the success or failure of interventions to arrest land degradation. These research products are international public goods.

In Syria's Khanasser Valley, for example, ICARDA introduced the concept of an Integrated Research Site, where a multi-institutional, multidisciplinary team is working with farmers and pastoralists to identify technology options suited to the area, and institutional mechanisms to ensure that these technologies will work. This concept is spreading to other countries in the dry areas. In Lebanon and Jordan, ICARDA and its partners are using a mechanized system for rapid large-scale restoration – greening dry, degraded areas and building a network of water-harvesting structures. In Central Asia, new crops and improved tillage methods are helping to arrest long-term soil degradation and build a healthier, more diverse farming system. Multidisciplinary studies are exploring innovative payment-based schemes for rangeland conservation, and testing simple, cost-effective ways to improve soil fertility – often the key issue in degraded areas. New tools such as GIS are being used to improve the analysis and presentation of information, for scientists as well as policy makers.

One common thread runs through all this: the importance of community participation, and of a holistic or integrated perspective, including policy and institutions, as opposed to a narrow focus on a single crop or one scientific discipline. Unless scientists from different disciplines and institutions work together, they will not succeed in developing technologies that work. And unless the community is involved, adoption rates will be poor. ICARDA's work rests on these two pillars, participation and integration. We call this Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM). To "mainstream" this approach – to make it standard practice in all development projects – we have helped develop a framework for INRM. The framework, explained in this issue of Caravan, can help plan and monitor projects, identify weak links, and determine key characteristics that drive change within the system.

Ultimately, research must lead to change – which is why ICARDA places great emphasis on its work on policy and institutions. Research findings must feed into policy development, by providing policy makers with practical, viable technology options to fight desertification. Regional, national and local institutions must be strengthened to remove the impediments to technological change. Human capacity must be developed through training and empowerment. All these components must come together, in order to arrest, and gradually reverse, the process of desertification.

The impact of ICARDA’s work demonstrates that degradation can be controlled, and rural welfare and livelihoods improved, even in the harshest environments. However, ICARDA is only one player among many. We welcome the opportunity to engage in dialog and cooperation with national, regional and international organizations.

	Mahmoud Solh
	Director General, ICARDA

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