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ICARDA’s cutting-edge water-saving innovations and research on alternative water resources are helping bridge the expanding gap between water supply and demand from dryland communities. As climate change intensifies, increasing rainfall variability and extreme weather events are undermining crop performance, resulting in yield instability and, in some cases, complete crop failure.
Gains achieved in water use efficiency across different systems.
Under improved water management through practices that maximise productivity in dryland conditions.
in India and Morocco improved their income under precision agriculture and conservation agriculture
In October 2024, ICARDA had the honor of co-convening the 7th Cairo Water Week: Water and Climate: Building Resilient Communities. This high-level international forum serves as a hub to promote innovation and dialogue in climate-smart water management. ICARDA was proud to showcase recent innovations, including the new lightweight version of its Raised Bed Machine and supplemental irrigation systems that are proving particularly effective for Moroccan wheat farmers, both of which were also presented at a field day held in July in Kafr El Sheikh, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and ICARDA.
A key milestone was signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, establishing a strategic partnership to advance research in agricultural water and irrigation management and capacity building. This collaboration aims to enhance Egypt’s ability to optimize agricultural water usage in severe water scarcity.
As climate change accelerates and global populations expand, sustainable soil and water management is more critical than ever to achieving food security while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
ICARDA, in collaboration with Morocco’s Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has developed ultra-low-energy drippers. These have shown a 70% reduction in energy requirements and a 64% decrease in GHG emissions in trials in Morocco. The drippers were highlighted at the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems for the Mediterranean region project launch event in September and contributed towards our nomination for the 2024 World Water Prize.
ICARDA and partners are also advancing monitoring technologies that enhance the precision of climate adaptation and mitigation strategies so that decision-makers can more accurately assess the environmental impacts of various agricultural practices. A regional network of flux towers, spanning Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, and Morocco, collects data at 30-minute intervals, offering critical insights into carbon dynamics across dryland ecosystems.
In 2024, we also launched a new project to build food security and livelihood resilience in Syria in partnership with Action Against Hunger-Spain, targeting 1,100 farmers in Aleppo, Hama, Edlib, and Hasaka Governorates. 100 farmers will receive barley seeds, while the remaining 1,000 farmers will plant lentils. The farmers will receive comprehensive training sessions on conservation agriculture techniques.
In celebration of World Soil Day 2024, ICARDA, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA), and other partners, recently organized a series of Sustainability Days to promote discussion on soil and water management and showcase science-driven solutions to Morocco’s agricultural challenge. Participants included agricultural experts, researchers, policymakers, and students.
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