Libya’s Agricultural Research Center (ARC) is taking action to bring agricultural research back on track after the disruption caused by the country’s recent months of conflict.
Senior members of the Libyan Research Council, have requested the support of ICARDA – the International Center for Agricultural Research the Dry Areas – to provide technical assistance, strategic support in convening funders for Libya’s agricultural reconstruction and continued capacity building for Libyan research partners.
Libyan partners representing the Libyan Agricultural Research Council and Ministry of Agriculture have requested ICARDA’s leadership to support an assessment of the current state of the country’s national research and extension system for agriculture, and to provide assistance to rebuild where needed. The ARC Libya-ICARDA collaborative program implemented since 2008 has been frozen since February 2011. It will soon be reactivated.
According to Eng. Younes Shouayeb, Director of the ARC: “It is not clear today how many of the vital components of the national system, necessary for our national food production, are intact. The rapid assessment will help determine this. It will start as soon as possible, identify gaps and needs for urgent reconstruction of our country’s agricultural research infrastructure,” he says.
The assessment will be done by a Libyan national team, supported by ICARDA, in a rapid appraisal of the current state of ARC infrastructure, stations and human resources needed to sustain optimal national agricultural research.
“Responding to Libya’s request, ICARDA is urgently sending to Libya seeds of wheat, barley, legume and forage crops for the 2011-2012 cropping season and priority has been given to Libyan scientists for training,” says Dr. Mahmoud Solh, Director General of ICARDA.
ICARDA
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