International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) conceived in 1972, born in 1975, and finally raised in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is one of the 15 centers strategically located all over the world and supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

ICARDA lies on dry, arid land that not only represents much of the conditions that characterize the land of Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA), but is also in the heart of the birthplace of agriculture. Some of history's greatest civilizations - including the empires of Ebla, Assyria, Sumeria, Babylonia, and the Hittites - once held power over the region due to its economic and strategic importance.

Today, ICARDA pays host to a 948-ha farm composed of offices; specialized laboratories studying biotechnology, geographic information systems, pathology, entomology, virology, physiology, seed health, soil physics, soil fertility, food and feed quality, and animal health and nutrition; a library and publishing service; and greenhouses and other controlled environment facilities.

ICARDA's mission is to improve the welfare of poor people and alleviate poverty through research and training in dry areas of the developing world, by increasing the production, productivity and nutritional quality of food, while preserving and enhancing the natural resource base. Current research concentrates on the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. ICARDA is also responsible for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.

For more information, visit http://www.icarda.cgiar.org.

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