28 May 2019. Moscow. Fourth Annual International Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition in Eurasia.

1. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
icarda.org cgiar.org
A CGIAR Research Center
Systemic Innovation to leverage impacts in
dryland agri-food systems of Central Asia
Moscow – May 28, 2019
Prof. Jacques Wery, ICARDA, Cairo, Egypt,
Dr. Ram Sharma and
Dr. Akmal Akramkhanov, ICARDA, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

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Staff: 400
Scientists: 80
ICARDA is a decentralized R4D international institute for
agri-food systems in non tropical drylands
Partnership with NARS

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Integration of Crops, Small Ruminants, Soils and Water at
Farm and landscape levels
17 %
22 %
58 %
3 %
NENA Agricultural Land (2.5 M km2)

4. The Eco-Regional Program for
Sustainable Agricultural Development in
Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC)
Established in 1998, aims to
achieve:
⚫overall food security
⚫enhanced productivity
⚫Soil and environmental
sustainability
⚫economic growth
⚫poverty alleviation

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An Integrated Approach to address a systemic crisis
Demography
Urbanisation
Conflicts
Climate
Change
Land
Degradation
Resilience ?

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A large and diversified portfolio of proven technologies
Raised-bed planting Irrigation techniques Fodder crops
Food Legumes
Conservation
Agriculture
“De-risking” solutions
for farmers

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Including long-term investment in Genetic Resources and Breeding
Characters:
1. Highly resistant to yellow rust
2. Heat tolerance
3. Medium maturity
4. Grain yield
9 t/ha under normal soil,
irrigation
5. Quality – satisfactory
6. High straw yield
Has remained yellow rust resistant
2009 - 2019
Climate-resilient Winter Wheat – Gozgon

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Systemic Innovation to achieve synergies among
SDGs in the Drylands
NUTRITION
SECURITY
BLUE WATER
LABOR
EMPLOYMENT MIGRATION
NATURAL
RESOURCES
& ENERGY
SYSTEMIC
INNOVATION
Components
Enabling
Environment

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• Soil Erosion
• No vegetation
• No Livelihood
• Downstream Flooding
Land and Livestock governance
Integrated Watershed Management
Marab
Agriculture
125 mm rainfall
5 T/ha grain
5 T/ha barley
Food security under Land Degradation
Neutrality is possible

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Modern Tools and participatory research to Scale-Out
“Innovations”
Similar Systems and Contexts
Mechanized Raised-Bed Planting Wheat
22 governorates 10% of Egypt’s total
wheat area (125,000 ha)
• Less irrigation water (- 25%)
• More yields (+30%)
• Less seeds (-50%)
Ethiopia, Jordan,
Iraq, Morocco,
Nigeria, Sudan,
Tunisia and
Uzbekistan

11. 11icarda.org
3 billion ha
International Agencies
3 million ha
Governments
300 k ha
Agro-Food industry
30 k ha
Advisors
Multi-scale knowledge on climate variability (spatial and temporal), soil fertility,
water availability and quality and crop responses (yield, water productivity,
soil carbon, pests-diseases…)
Quantification of key indicators for decision making at the proper scale
1.3 ha
Farmers

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For spatial ex ante and ex post Impact Assessment
Assessment of Food and
Feed Water limited
production
of the agro-ecosystems in
central Asia, using satellite-
based Vegetation, Crop
Models and climate data
Quantification of
Land, Water and
Nitrogen Productivity
for improved crop, soil
and water
management options
at farm to landscape
scales
Impact of climate
change: occurrence of
the dry spells and
drought events its impact
on the productivity and
dynamics of the grazing
lands
Assessment of land
degradation and
desertification:
spreading northward
on spatial scales and
steadily increasing
trends on the temporal
scales

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Upscaling to Food Systems at the National Level
RSB Wheat (Feddans)
Food
Policy
Target
?
?
?
→ Ex ante Multiscale and Multicriteria Assessment of Innovation to inform Policies

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Towards a CGIAR Platform for the Drylands

15. 15The DryArc Initiative
A Global Interface
To support policies and innovation in the Drylands
CRPs
CGIAR
Centers
Public Sector
NARS, ARIS,
Univ.
Private sector
Knowledge management (KMT)
Data, maps, climate scenarios (MT)
Framework and models for integrated modelling
and assessment of agrifood systems in the
drylands (IMF)
Multi-
criteria
assessment
(MAT)
Research
projects
Informing
strategic thinking
and investment in
R4D
Stakholder
capacity
building
Participatory
approach (SIT)
Proven technologies (“Innovations”)
The DryArc Interface: a Combination of Tools for
* Benchmarking,
* Integrated Assessment
* Scaling of Innovations
for Dryland Agri-food systems

16. 16The DryArc Initiative
A Global Interface
For a new generation of projects in the Drylands of
Central Asia
Improve
Systemic
Innovation
Design
Out-scale and Upscale
Ex ante and ex post assessment
Sustainable Development
Adaptation to Climate Change
Knowledge Sharing
Policies
Stakeh
olders