Brief Report on the Second International Conference on Arid Land Studies (ICAL 2): Innovations for Sustainability and Food Security in Arid and Semi arid areas

Abstract

The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) has organized a round table meeting at ICAL2 on 12 September with various distinguished agriculture and research organizations from the Central Asia region. Dr.Shoaib Ismail, Acting Director, Research & Innovation Senior Scientist – Halophyte Agronomy at ICBA, chaired the meeting, where each participant presented his institution, highlighted the current problems, and identified potential projects for cooperation and collaboration over the short and medium run. There were delegations from different countries partners, such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. There were representatives of regional organizations and donors as Islamic Development Bank (IDB), FAO Sub-Regional Office for Central Asia, regional representatives of USAID , USDA; UNESCO Tashkent office; UNDP , CACILM, IWMI, Swiss Cooperation Office in Uzbekistan, government representatives from Uzbekistan.