This activity was created to provide the people of Nebek, a village near Damascus, Syria, technical backstopping in the preparation of a community-led agrobiodiversity project.  The objective of this project is to rehabilitate the highly degraded land of Nebek through the re-introduction of indigenous plant species, improve the natural resource base system of local farmers and shepherds, and create ultimately better life conditions for the inhabitants of the area.  IPGRI decided to embark in this work, in view of the unique opportunity this initiative offered to bring together various stakeholders (a religious community, shepherds and farmers’ associations, the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Tourism, FAO, IPGRI and ICARDA) under a truly participatory approach. IPGRI adopted a 5-step strategy to assist the Community of Nebek in this pursuit by:

1. Establishment of a Committee with the involvement of all local, national and international Stakeholders expressing interest in this work

2. Development of a Project proposal through a bottom-up approach, in which the needs of the Primary Stakeholders are well expressed and embedded in the proposal

3. Submission of the proposal to relevant agencies and donors for funding; 

4. Raising the Public Awareness on the importance of this project.

5. Strengthening the scientific knowledge on the use of the local biodiversity for rehabilitation of the degraded land and agricultural promotion.  

Although IPGRI’s role so far has been instrumental in all the steps, its main direct input has been the training of a local MSc student from Nebek. As a way to sensitize the policymakers, a PA video featuring the participatory approach of this project has been produced by CWANA staff and used for donor contacts, as well as a training aid during PGR courses .  

Top