1 | Page International Year of Pulses 2016 Regional Dialogue for Middle East, Nile Valley (MENV) Draft Report Organizer: FAO/ICARDA Samiramis Intercontinental Hotel, Cairo, Date: Wednesday and Thursday, November 2-3, 2016 Participants: 15-20 participants from MENV
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International Year of Pulses 2016 Regional Dialogue for ... · Regional Dialogue for Middle East Nile Valley and North Africa Samiramis Intercontinental Hotel, Cairo, Egypt, 2-3 November
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International Year of Pulses 2016 Regional Dialogue for
Middle East, Nile Valley (MENV)
Draft Report
Organizer: FAO/ICARDA
Samiramis Intercontinental Hotel, Cairo, Date: Wednesday and Thursday, November 2-3, 2016
Participants: 15-20 participants from MENV
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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Following a call from FAO for an International dialogue on Pulses in the MENA region, a meeting of essential experts was organized from 2-3 Nov 2016 at Cairo. The set objectives were:
Understand/Document the “state-of-the-art” on pulses in each Region in terms of opportunities
and challenges, including existing policy environment
Agree on common priorities for advocacy and promotion of pulses in each region.
Identify knowledge gaps and research needs
The Near East and Nile Valley Regional Dialogue on the International Year of Pulses in Cairo, Egypt was hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in cooperation with The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). More than 20 experts met on November 2nd and 3rd to share their knowledge and experience, covering all aspects related to pulses and legumes in the region and beyond.
In addition to FAO and ICARDA experts, the regional dialogue was attended by experts from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute, the Sudanese Agricultural Research Center, and the Egyptian Agricultural Research Center.
Mr. Pasquale Steduto, FAO Regional Strategic Programmes Coordinator, stressed in his inaugural message on the importance of regional dialogues as a medium for knowledge sharing, on the road to the Global dialogue, which will be hosted at FAO HQ towards the end of this month.
Ms. Maggie Habib, FAO’s Special International Year of Pulses Ambassador for the Near East and North Africa region, shared her experience in advocating for pulses throughout this year, and confirmed that “the pulses which were the main foods since the dawn of humanity will remain as the food of the future, and one of the best options to address the challenges of climate change.”
Positioning the regional dialogue on pulses within the global framework of the International year of Pulses was presented by Mr. Aladdin Hamwieh (ICARDA) and Mr. Mohamed Dost (FAO).
Dr. Shiv Kumar Agrawal (ICARDA) presented research strategies for pulses sufficiency in the Region. Presently, the MENA region produces 2.6 million tonnes of pulses from 2.2 million ha land as compared to 78 m tonnes from 85 m ha land globally. With 1.75 million tonnes, the MENA region is the second largest importer of pulses, mainly including the faba bean, lentil and kabuli chickpea. He raised a concern that the current cropping systems in the region are skewed to cereals which means that the benefits legumes can offer to society are not delivered in the region. In order to make the region pulses sufficient, he suggested a four-pronged strategy which include closing the existing yield gaps (which are as high as 60%), new genetic gains through breeding efficient plant type, bringing at least 10% area under pulses as compared to the present level of 7%, and reducing post-harvest losses (16% losses in MENA). This strategy can result in 8 million tonnes of pulses which can fill the demand-supply gap of pulses in the region.
This was followed by a presentation of Fouad Maalouf (ICARDA) over Current constraints, successes and future challenges facing pulses in the Near East, Nile Valley and North Africa Region. Food security was presented by Clemens Breisinger (IFPRI), while Murari Singh (ICARDA) spoke about Suitability and Identification of Pulses in Cropping Systems for Nutritional Security, Better Livelihood and
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Mitigation for Climate Change: Need for on-farm experimentation and minimum datasets for modelling for out-scaling of the production system.
Mr. Mohammad Kharrat (ICARDA) spoke about Pulse production in North Africa, followed by Aladdin Hamwieh (ICARDA) who spoke about Pulses contribution to sustainable agriculture in a changing environment.
Dr. Hatem Abo Taleb spoke about Legume-Biological nitrogen fixation, before allowing participants from Lebanon, Sudan and Egypt to discuss challenges and demands at national levels.
The two days’ dialogue was concluded by open discussions, followed by regional recommendations which will be presented to the Global Dialogue in Rome about pulses, the nutritive seeds for a sustainable future.
II. RECOMMENDATIONS
POLICY The present policies in the region discourage farmers to cultivate pulses in spite of remunerative
market prices and therefore enable the policy environment to favor pulse production needs created by national governments.
RESEARCH
Research for development efforts should be directed towards development of improved varieties, amenable to machine harvest, and apart from resistance to key diseases, weeds, and insect pests have labour saving and market traits like large seeds and quality traits. There is a need to develop climate resilient varieties to counter the effect of climate change and variability.
Research on integrated crop management options including the application of new irrigation systems, early warning system for diseases, and the application of bio-organic fertilizers needs to be strengthened.
Popularization and demonstration of recently released varieties associated with best agronomic practices in a wide range of agro-climatic conditions in farmer fields.
Research investment (National and International research systems) needs to be enhanced to develop more productive and efficient varieties and technologies.
Enhanced research for development capacity in the region by facilitating research-policy linkages, introducing new skills, and increasing collaboration with international centers and advanced research institutes.
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
Establish a regional research network for pulses for eco-regional technologies
Develop an effective Seed System and Extension for fast dissemination of technologies
Enhance efficiency of Pulses value chain from crop production and agro-processing, to preservation and utilization needs
Enhance public awareness on Pulses- Institutional websites, local and international TV news/programs, Social media (Facebook, Tweeter, YouTube…etc.)
In the closing remark, Dr. Mohammad Dost from FAO thanked the Participants for their fruitful discussions and valuable contributions. He also expressed his gratitude to ICARDA for its support to the organization of the Regional Dialogue.
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On the basis of presentations and discussions, the group arrived at the following.
CONSTRAINTS FOR PULSES PRODUCTION IN MENA REGION:
Policy
1. Lack of short and long term agricultural policies in favor of pulses - Low priority for legume
research
Income generation factors
2. Competition with other cash crops
3. Gap between farmer and consumer prices
4. Absence of value chain for pulses
5. Lack of agro-processing for better marketing for high value international markets.
6. Absence of an awareness program
7. Weak advertising system and production valorization for promoting pulses