Knowledge and Technology exchange for enhanced quality of IFAD/ICARDA operations in the NENA region

		Bedouin woman carrying citrons

Every year, IFAD's Near East and North Africa Division (NEN) participates in a staff retreat to review projects and finalize divisional plans. This year the event took place in Aleppo, Syria on Knowledge and Technology exchange. The theme was Rainfed Agriculture and the objective of the workshop was to increase individual and collective knowledge about the nature of Rainfed production systems. Lenyara Fundukova reports on this Knowledge and Technology event.

Team work is essential to maintain the high standards and results to which IFAD aspires, and knowledge and learning are the major keys to success. In 2009, there was an opportunity to join with one of IFAD’s main partners, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), in combining the staff retreat with a three-day learning event/workshop entitled “Knowledge and Technology Exchange for Enhanced Quality of IFAD/ICARDA Operations in the NENA Region”. This event involved the participation of a total of 34 participants including the NENA Division staff, many of whom would not normally travel to the field and three staff members from both the Communications Division (COM) and the Policy and Technical Advisory Division (PTA).

Each staff member was asked to select a particular theme within the given framework of Knowledge and Technology exchange for IFAD-ICARDA operations, to gather information and to report on its findings. Participants were to focus on where NENA could integrate or use new knowledge in its operations. Several group discussions were held on four main topics:  Agricultural Productivity; Livestock Productivity; Natural Resource Management and Climate Change; and Rural Finance and Markets. These discussions were led by ICARDA focal points with contributions from Project Managers, Coordinators and NEN staff. From these discussions, the participants developed thematic presentations that summarized their experiences, as main action points necessary to support productivity of Rainfed Agriculture systems in the NENA region.

These discussions were led by ICARDA focal points with contributions from Project Managers, Coordinators and NEN staff. From these discussions, the participants developed thematic presentations that summarized their experiences, as main action points necessary to support productivity of Rainfed Agriculture systems in the NENA region.

The key to the success of this event was the emphasis on learning and knowledge exchange that came from being in the field and being in direct contact with IFAD’s partners. The participants engaged in 13 discussion themes, ranging from technical issues related to land and water management to the broader aspects of value chains and rural finance. More specifically, the 13 themes were the following:

• Rangeland rehabilitation and livestock management  
• Indigenous knowledge and water harvesting
• Conservation agriculture and sustainable land management
• Supplemental irrigation
• Information and communication technology
• Drought management and mitigation
• Rural finance
• High-value crops and low cost farming systems
• Linking farmers to markets
• Women in household production systems
• Payments for environmental services
• Adaptation to climate change
• Role of extension services

With the support of Project Directors, Managers and Coordinators from 13 countries, two partner organizations – the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) – and more than 40 researchers from ICARDA were fully engaged in the event. The participants spent more than half of the entire time mainly in the field to gain first-hand experience and having direct contact with the local farmers. The event has contributed to a heightened awareness about the conditions of IFAD and its partner’s project beneficiaries (especially the farmers). The group has been exposed to the different approaches of how ICARDA’s work is implemented in the field, for the farmers.   ICARDA’s approach of training farmers in small groups for instance, is an extremely effective way of learning and exchanging ideas. The group left inspired and motivated by this experience in Aleppo. The enthusiasm for another trip of this kind was so great that a similar trip will be organized in 2011.