Gates Foundation-ICARDA partnership envisions reviving Arab world's rich past

Published Date
January 22, 2016
Published by
ICARDA Communication Team
Scientists working with farmers on improved wheat varieties and managing the crop
Scientists working with farmers on improved wheat varieties and managing the crop

In a new partnership, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has joined ICARDA in addressing the severe food insecurity facing the Arab world through agricultural research and development as a long-term solution  to the  region.  

Sharing Bill and Melinda  Gates Foundation’s vision for a brighter future for the Arab world through partnership with ICARDA, Hassan Al-Damluji, Head of Middle East Relations at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, wrote in a recent article in Newsweek for Middle East:

“The key to success is long-term thinking” and the “need to rediscover the spirit of creativity that once made the Fertile Crescent the cradle of civilization and the home of innovation”.

ICARDA, based in the heart of the Fertile Crescent - the  birthplace of agriculture - has been working in the region and beyond with a tight focus on addressing the problem-solving needs of resource-poor farmers and driving results through the in-field delivery of its research outputs.  

ICARDA has been successfully able to demonstrate the potential  impacts of improved agricultural technologies in bridging the yield gap and   boosting food security in Arab countries through a large-scale regional project focused on improving productivity of wheat-based cropping systems. The project, funded in its first phase (2011-2014) by Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD),  Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), demonstrated an average wheat yield increase on farm of 28% and reached over 27,000 farmers across eight countries.  The  maximum yield increase across these countries averaged at 75%.   

The Arab Food Security Project, now in its second phase,  is embarking   on scaling out the technologies for wider benefits across the Arab world  in joint partnership with AFESD, KFAED and Gates Foundation.  

“The region where farming was invented is in need of another agricultural revolution”, writes Al-Damluji, highlighting the contributions of Arab Food Security Project along with other agricultural initiatives in the region that Gates Foundation is supporting.

ICARDA’s Director General,  Dr. Mahmoud Solh expressed gratification for the recognition by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation  of ICARDA’s research work and role in the region:

“We at ICARDA highly appreciate your great and timely testimony for the important need for such institutions in the region. Your support  will add to the  highly valued support from  AFESD, KFAED, IsDB and OFID to synergize large-scale impacts in the region. ”

ICARDA fully shares Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s hope and vision that the many good ideas and exciting developments arising from the region “can have the power to change not only local, but also global futures.”

Read full Newsweek article here: http://newsweekme.com/seeds-of-growth/