CGIAR Central Asia and the Caucasus

Program Priorities

In view of the rapid changes around the world (globalization of markets, recent progress in science, especially in biotechnologies, renewed focus on rural development, provision of policy and technical support to subsistence or family producers, new agri-food research paradigm - from farm to the fork (from production to consumption) and information technology revolution; the time dimension of the identified agricultural research priorities is of crucial importance. Setting the regional priorities is necessarily a dynamic and evolutionary process to be revisited in the light of regional and global changes taking place around the CAC.

Since the establishment of the Collaborative Program, there have been extensive consultations between the CG Centers and NARS to identify and prioritize thematic research areas (for instance, germplasm improvement, soil and water management, livestock development, policy orientation, and NARS institutional strengthening). With the seed money provided by the CGIAR and additional funds raised by the participating Centers, the Program has made significant progress in this regard. Annual meetings have been held between all the participating International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs) and NARS, at which workplans are reviewed and adjusted according to re-assessed priorities.

ICARDA in association with the CAC-NARS had earlier organized the Need Assessment meetings in 1995 and 1996 which led to the establishment of the CAC Regional Program involving eight countries and eight CG centers. These efforts also led to endorsement by the CAC policy makers of greater support for agricultural research and development.

Subsequent priority setting exercises were undertaken in September 2001 in Tashkent and May 2002 in Aleppo. In these exercises, earlier identified priorities were revisited to find a global context and integrate them into CGIAR agenda for research. Based on revised analysis of constraints and opportunities for agricultural research and development in the CAC region, it was emphasized that in view of the state of poverty, natural resource degradation, and the level of food insecurity, CGIAR should consider its involvement in Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, in addition to Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The next step for CGIAR was to identify a niche within the regional research agenda that provide opportunities to CG Centers to work together with the NARS on problems of mutual interests.

In 2006, during the Round Table Discussions held in Tashkent on the ICARDA Strategic Plans for Dry Areas in the CWANA Region, priorities identified in 2002 were revisited for an alignment with the new CGIAR system-wide priorities and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In the round table discussions, CAC national partners re-affirmed the priorities identified earlier.

In March, 2007, a “Regional Research Needs Assessment” workshop was convened in Tashkent to also involve the eco-regional fora such as CACAARI, APAARI, AARINENA, together with GFAR, farmer associations and private sector organizations. It provided a unique opportunity for developing a common vision on the nature and extent of agricultural problems. Participants revisited the CAC regional priorities and defined the needs for agricultural technologies and inforamtion for improving the productivity of the prevalent farming systems for improved livelihoods of the people who depend on agriculture. The earlier initiatives of the Program had laid sound foundations for effective agricultural research for sustainable development of the region. As a result, now in the CAC region, CG centers are addressing 13 out of 20 CGIAR system-wide priorities.

This Research Needs Assessment conducted in March, 2007, led to sorting out the basis of regional commonalities. Regional problems requiring attention of several countries and hence of the global communities were also identified.