AgraME News
ICARDA-CGIAR launches desert farming innovation program
The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C) has announced the ICARDA-CGIAR Integrated Desert Farming Innovation Program (IDFIP) as one of its Innovation Sprints, a commitment to increase self-aggregated funding to support climate-smart agriculture and resilient food systems transformation in global drylands and especially in the drylands of North Africa, Central, and West Asia and the Middle East.
The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate / AIM4C) is a joint initiative by the USA and the United Arab Emirates.
The announcement was made during the AIM for Climate Summit in Washington DC, hosted by the U.S. government and supported by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR).
The project aims to leverage an increased level of investment from $7 million over a five-year period to $20 million by the end of 2025.
The IDFIP is an ICARDA-led CGIAR initiative that realizes the potential of desert farming to boost agricultural productivity, generate jobs, and deliver food and water security in desert ecosystems. The program initially focuses on the Arabian Peninsula and will act as a test case generating lessons and outcomes vital for scaling innovation packages to transform productive food systems beyond the Arabian Peninsula's borders, into North Africa and West Asia, and across global drylands.
Expected impacts include significant water saving and reuse, with resilient and sustainable farming systems using renewable energy and climate-smart farming approaches; reduced food and feed imports thanks to increased local production of strategic staple crops; and lucrative local and export markets for high-value crops and value-added desert farming products – boosting the small business sector and creating new jobs.
08 May 2023
Sourced from New AG International, a brand of Informa Connect