STCU Participates in Vegetable Systems Research and Development

06 May 2005

From April 25 to April 27, STCU Uzbekistan Senior Specialist, Lawrence Leahy, and Administrative Assistant, Alexey Kim, participated in an international seminar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, organized by AVRDC, the World Vegetable Center. AVRDC is the principal international center for vegetable research and development in the world. Its mission is to reduce poverty and malnutrition in developing countries through improved production and consumption of vegetables. The title of the seminar was “Workshop on Improved Income and Nutrition in Central Asia and the Caucasus through Enhanced Market- and Trade-oriented Vegetable Systems Research and Development.”

The seminar was funded by the Asian Development Bank, the German Agency for Technical Co-operation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan. More than eighty participants attended the conference from sixteen countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Thailand, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Philippines.

The conference’s objectives were to:

1. Review recent developments in the vegetable system, particularly as regards to efforts to enhance its sustainability in the Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC) Region;
2. Gain a comprehensive understanding of priorities in vegetable systems R&D within each CAC country and in the region as a whole;
3. Suggest strategies on the priorities and mechanisms for collaborative vegetable R&D efforts that will mutually benefit all CAC member countries;
4. Propose R&D subject areas and action plans that will merit the support of the national governments and the donor community.

Mr. Leahy and Mr. Kim presented a presentation on the STCU and highlighted the STCU’s support for agricultural R&D and the STCU’s interest in collaborating with other donor organizations in these fields. Mr. Leahy met with Dr. Thomas Lumpkin, Director General of the AVRDC, to discuss STCU’s programs and possibilities of collaborating with the AVRDC. A number of potential projects and project themes were identified by conference participants; the STCU is hoping to receive R&D proposals through the AVRDC and its members as a result of this conference.