H.E. Dr Riad Hejab, Syria's Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, visited ICARDA headquarters on 12 May. He was accompanied by Mr Hamed Al-Soud, President of the Syrian Farmers Union, and several  Directors from the Ministry. “Syria and ICARDA have worked closely together for more than 30 years,” the Minister said. “The benefits have been substantial – but there are opportunities to expand this partnership even further.”

Dr Hejab visited field experiments and lab facilities at the Tel Hadya research station, noting that ICARDA’s research complemented national efforts in key areas. For example, multidisciplinary Syria-ICARDA teams are helping to fight epidemics of yellow rust disease, which has caused huge losses in recent years. A joint project, using GIS tools for agro-ecological mapping, is helping to improve technology targeting. The “100 villages” project has helped disseminate new technologies to improve the livelihoods of the country’s poorest communities. Another program has led to an expansion of conservation agriculture in Syria from near-zero to 15,000 hectares in five years.

Dr Mahmoud Solh, ICARDA Director General, stressed the Center’s commitment to assisting national efforts. “All our work is driven by the priorities of partner countries – and designed, implemented and monitored jointly.” He spoke about new  research-for- development initiatives , in which Syria would play an important role. These include a regional project on food security supported by the Arab and Kuwaiti Funds and the Islamic Development Bank, and the new CGIAR Consortium Research Program on dryland farming systems.

Following discussions with scientists and senior management, Dr Hejab identified several areas where existing programs could be expanded. These include new disease- and drought-resistant crop varieties, technologies to increase water productivity, integrated crop-rangeland-livestock systems, and rural development projects to create new income opportunities, especially for women.