Integrated Agricultural Production Systems Nile Valley - Technical Report May 2014 - May 2015

Abstract

The project on “Integrated Agricultural Production Systems for the Poor and Vulnerable in Dryland Areas” (Phase II) has two objectives or components: the first is the development of profitable and climate change-proof packages/models of tested and proven technology options. The second is the facilitation of the institution and policy environment for an accelerated scaling up of these technologies. The project is targeting six countries: Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Yemen.

The first steering committee meeting of the project (Phase II) took place in Cairo on April 14/2014. In this meeting, it was decided to give the teams in the six countries until end of August 2014 to finalize their respective detailed work plans (e.g. activities, deliverables, timetable, and budget) and to communicate and liaise with IFAD-funded projects in respective countries in order to identify the entry points of collaboration which will add value to IFAD’s investments. The first draft work plans of Year I submitted by countries to ICARDA (in August/September 2014) were to a large extent a duplication of what has been done in Phase I of the project with little attention paid to the conceptualization of the research-to-business model and to linkages with IFAD investment projects. This necessitated field visits by ICARDA’s project leader to Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan over the period of September-November 2014.