November 2005 How Agricultural Research is Making a Difference The benefits of agricultural research can often seem highly technical, lost in the tedium of hypotheses, varietal trials, data, benefit-cost ratios, and more. New Director General of ICARDA Dr. Mahmoud Mohamed Bachir El-Solh is the new Director-General Designate of ICARDA. Destination Marrakech The Government of Morocco, Under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, is hosting Annual General Meeting 2005 (AGM05) during December 5-9, 2005 at the Palais des Congres in Marrakech. Major New Project Benefits the Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia A new project being implemented by CIP, with support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and others aims to increase farm productivity in the Altiplano. Tackling Drought Because drought can push millions of people into poverty, IRRI scientists are developing drought-tolerant rice varieties to help Asian farmers. Reinvigorating Agriculture in Afghanistan Wheat is the number-one staple crop in Afghanistan, and maize is the third. Together they occupy 80 percent of the area planted to annual crops. A central aim of CIMMYT in Afghanistan is to make improved, high quality seed of both crops available to farmers, along with appropriate crop management technologies. From the Science Council Chair A message from Per Pinstrup-Andersen on public goods and the CGIAR. Integrating Biodiversity Conservation and Development The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) is joining hands with Conservation International (CI) to promote conservation in the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots, areas with the greatest diversity of wild animal and plant species that are threatened by human activities. Young People Speak Out : Advocate Science-Based Solutions Poor people with HIV/AIDS across Africa, including Malawi, are looking for ways to improve their livelihoods, through better work opportunities that will integrate them into society” said Madalitso Magombo, a young aquaculturalist from WorldFish Center, kicking off a roundtable discussion “Developing Creative Approaches to Fight HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa” held during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings in September. Equipping East African Women for Leadership in Science Eleven new awards were given in August to women crop scientists working in national research institutes and universities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda by the CGIAR Gender and Diversity (G&D) Program. Getting a Handle on High-Value Agricultural Products On a hot afternoon at San Dionisio in Nicaragua's Matagalp Province, farmer leader Manual Moreno describes how he has radically changed the way he markets agricultural produce. Meeting of Minds: New Program Attracts Talented Law Students An innovative program is bringing law students to work on intellectual property issues at CGIAR Centers. Managing Natural Resources through the Power of Partnership Following the Rio Earth Summit, in 1994, the CGIAR established the Alternatives to Slash and Burn (ASB) Systemwide Program - an initiative that is now a global consortium of over 80 national and international research institutes, NGOs, universities, private and community organizations, and farmers' groups. New, Low-Neurotoxin Grass Pea Variety Breaks the Fear of Paralysis in Ethiopia A new variety of grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) dubbed 'Wasie' was recently released by the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (EARO). The new variety was derived from grass pea germplasm that was supplied to Ethiopia by ICARDA in 1999/2000. Technological Breakthrough to Produce Disease-Resistant Chickpea ICRISAT scientists have recently succeeded in obtaining healthy hybrids of chickpea—the world's third most important food legume—by crossing a cultivated variety, Cicer arietinum, with the wild species Cicer bijugum. Forests and Violent Conflict CIFOR research shows how forest-related conflicts can be averted In Memoriam Robert Dale Havener and John Vercoe