IGAD to Work with ICARDA on Dry Lands Projects

23-01-2018, Djibouti (Djibouti): The Director of Agriculture and Environment Division of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Mr. Mohamed Moussa, today received the Assistant Director General for International Cooperation and Communication of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Dr. Shideed Kamel, at IGAD Secretariat.

Dr. Shideed Kamel was leading a team of three for the purpose of meeting with IGAD senior staff from Agriculture and Environment Division as well as from the Planning and Coordination Unit.

Mr. Mohamed Moussa thanked the Jordan-based delegation for initiating the process of working with IGAD while highlighting that both organizations had a lot in common in regards to their respective mandates and intervention areas.

Mr. Mohamed Moussa recalled that IGAD is 70% arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) and that much of IGAD agriculture and environment related work focuses on ASALs.

Dr. Kamel expressed the intention of his organization to firm up collaboration with IGAD which was long ago identified by ICARDA as the premier organization to work with. He added that now was the time to formalize relations between the two organisations and identify areas of immediate cooperation.

The two teams held a meeting in the conference hall of the Secretariat during which an overview of IGAD regional strategy was given. Presentations were also made on IGAD programmes and projects with focus on the IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience & Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI).

ICARDA team did also brief their counterparts of their programmes.

The meeting will end tomorrow with the signature of an Aide-memoire.