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December 3, 2008
Source:
ICARDA
It is with great pleasure that we
announce that on December 2, 2008, during the Annual General
Meeting 2008 of the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR), held in Maputo, Mozambique, the
CGIAR Program for Sustainable Agriculture in Central Asia and
the Caucasus (in short, CAC Program) has been awarded the CGIAR
King Baudouin "Science Award for Outstanding Partnership".
The CGIAR Program for Sustainable Agricultural Development in
Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC) is implemented by a
Consortium of partners, namely the eight National Agricultural
Research Systems (NARS) of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan,
eight International Centers of the CGIAR – Bioversity
International, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
(CIMMYT), International Potato Center (CIP), International
Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA),
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI),
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), International
Center for Water Management (IWMI); two other International
Centers – AVRDC - the World Vegetable Center, International
Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA); and Michigan State
University (MSU).
The Program was established in 1998, and is hosted by ICARDA’s
Regional Office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The activities of the
Program over the last ten years have been very positively
evaluated by an independent External Review in 2008.
Achievements were made in germplasm improvement, seed supply
systems, cropping systems and agricultural diversification,
integrated system of livestock and fodder production, integrated
on-farm soil, water and salinity management, conservation of
plant genetic resources, small ruminants breed characterization,
socioeconomic and policy research. The Program’s efforts for
capacity development and in strengthening the regional and
international cooperation are well recognized by the NARS
partners.
In receiving the prize in the name of the whole CAC Consortium,
Dr. Christopher Martius, Head of the Program’s Facilitation Unit
(PFU) based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, emphasized: “I am very
pleased to receive the prize, and do so in the name of the
Consortium and of the partners that collaborate for more
sustainable, and more profitable agriculture in the highly
degraded lands of Central Asia and the Caucasus. The Program is
an example of fruitful and constructive collaboration between
the NARS in all our partner countries and the CG centers, and
across all centers involved.” He received the award together
with Academician Hukmatullo Akhmadov, who is President of the
Tajik Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Chairman of the
Central Asia and Caucasus Association of Agricultural Research
Institutes (CACAARI), who represented the eight partner
countries, and Dr. Mahmoud Solh, Director General of ICARDA and
Chairman of the CGIAR Task Force on Central Asia, representing
the Centers involved in the Consortium.
Dr. Martius emphasized that the Award is received on behalf of
the whole consortium and added: “The whole collaborative Program
would not have been possible without the incessant enthusiastic
support from the NARS to establish a CGIAR support office in the
region that provides bridges into the modern world of science.
The program owes its existence also to the great efforts of the
former and the present Directors General of ICARDA, Dr. Adel
El-Beltagy and Dr. Mahmoud Solh. They worked untiringly to get
this Program off the ground.” He furthermore emphasized the role
of his predecessors, Dr. Surendra Beniwal and Dr. Raj Paroda, in
firmly establishing the program in the region as a forum for
close and equitable collaboration.
Being honored with the Award, the representatives of the CAC
Program stressed that it represents an immensely satisfactory
recognition of their past efforts, which renews their commitment
to increase efforts in the region for agricultural development
in poor rural areas. Dr. Solh emphasized that “the CAC program
is an excellent example of true participation of NARS, CGIAR
centers and advanced research institutions that applies research
to find solutions to the particular development challenge of
regions in economic transition. However, these regions also
offer wide opportunities for improvement.” Providing better land
use technologies and linking poor farmers to markets through
agricultural development will provide opportunities for the
predominantly rural populations in these countries. This also
calls upon donors to increase their contributions to the
stability in this highly important region in terms of increasing
global food security.
Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.org)
serves the entire developing world for the improvement of
barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries
for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition
and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and
rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central and
West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible
for the improvement of durum and bread wheat, chickpea, pasture
and forage legumes and farming systems; and for the protection
and enhancement of the natural resource base of water, land, and
biodiversity.
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a
strategic alliance of countries, international and regional
organizations, and private foundations supporting15
international research centers that mobilizes cutting-edge
science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger
and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and
protecting the environment. |
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