For ICARDA, 2012 has been a time of change and evolution. We have been busy tackling the many issues of dryland agriculture and global food production against a backdrop of focusing our efforts as a force for change for people living in the world's drylands and our areas of scientific expertise.
The year 2015 will be remembered for the waves of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region looking for a safer future in other parts of the world. While millions of people crossed into Europe, the international community looked for the roots causes of the migration, recognizing that food insecurity, unemployment, drought and environmental degradation all play a role in the uprising and coalescing of conflict.
Global food production has increased by 20% in the past decade – but food insecurity and poverty remain widespread , while the natural resource base continues to decline. International research centers, which have helped drive previous improvements, must continue to deliver new technologies to support sustainable growth in agriculture; and to work with other partners to accelerate the dissemination of these technologies.
The dry areas face severe challenges to sustainable development. The biggest challenges – food insecurity, water scarcity, land degradation, and climate change – are closely inter-related. The effects of climate change will be felt globally, but the dry areas will be particularly hard hit. Climate change will exacerbate water scarcity, rainfall variability, and the decline in the natural resource base, and thus could have a profound impact on food security.
In 2007, ICARDA celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. The Center and its partners have worked together for three decades to improve the food security and livelihoods of the poor in dry and marginal areas. During this time, we have seen significant changes in the biophysical environment and in socio-economic circumstances. New farming technologies, new livelihood options, and better policies and institutions are speeding up agricultural development in the world's dry areas, and we are proud of the role we have played in this progress.
Poverty, food insecurity, natural resource degradation and climate change are global challenges; but they impact most severely on rural communities in dry areas. Addressing these challenges requires a combination of good science, integrated research-for-development approaches, and effective partnerships. As this report illustrates, all three elements are in place, resulting in new technologies and tangible benefits in more than 40 countries.
This report describes the use of improved methodologies developed for identifying water-harvesting sites. It also provides general guidelines for determining site potential in relation to various parameters. The approach integrates multi-disciplinary knowledge, use of GIS, and verification in the field to develop and test a methodology to identify watersheds with specific characteristics – in this case, watersheds most suited to project activities within the Jordanian Badia.
CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food
This report on ‘Assessment and Improvement of Wheat and Maize Water Productivity in Lower Karkheh River Basin’ helps researchers and scientists interested in sustainable water development to improve the Water Productivity (WP) of wheat and maize in irrigated lands of the Karkheh dam downstream.
The shortage of water in arid zones represents the most serious obstacle to poverty reduction because it limits the extent to which poor producers of crops and livestock can take advantage of opportunities arising from emerging markets, trade, and globalization. Water shortage in arid zones limits the variety and quantity of crop and livestock products a smallholder can produce, thus narrowing their range of options.
The objective of any national water policy is, normally, to ‘Generate the maximum possible economic value for the nation’. Under water scarcity situations, water should be allocated so that users who generate a higher income per unit volume of water are given priority over those who generate less income. This applies not only to water quantity, but also to water quality. The above statements are valid when water is considered as an economic commodity.
Almakatei village, located on Alatf canal, was selected purposely to represent the community. Its agricultural land is located across three main districts in Menoufia Governorate – Al Bagour, Shebin Al Koum and Quesna. This was considered as one of the main advantages of selecting this site. El-Menira tertiary on Alatf canal was selected as the site for the study of the pipeline group. It is about 870 m long and it serves an area of about 40 ha. El-Hamra tertiary was selected for the study of the open canal group and serves an area of 30 ha.