US embassy cable - 05AMMAN4244

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 004244 
 
SIPDIS 
 
CAIRO FOR AG COUNSELOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR, PREL, TSPL, KPAL, EAID, IS, JO 
SUBJECT: Jordan and Palestinians Welcome U.S./Israeli 
Overture on Agricultural R&D Cooperation 
 
1.  SUMMARY: The Board of Directors of the U.S.-Israel 
Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) 
visited Jordan May 23-24 to discuss including Jordan and the 
Palestinian Authority in an expanded version of BARD dubbed 
MARD.  A wide range of Palestinian and Jordanian officials 
and academics, including the Palestinian Minister of 
Agriculture and the Jordanian Minister of Agriculture (both 
of whom have scientific PhDs) warmly welcomed the concept. 
The next step is for the Chairman of the BARD Board (and 
USDA/ARS Administrator) Dr. Edward Knipling to write a 
letter to the Ministers of Agriculture in Israel, the 
Palestinian Authority and Jordan asking for official points 
of contact so that the parties can begin looking for 
funding.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Background: Successful Science Cooperation Since 1977 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
2.  BARD, operating since 1977, has a strong track record of 
supporting top-notch science.  BARD is funded by income from 
a $110 million endowment from the governments of the United 
States and Israel, and from additional annual contributions. 
In 2003, the BARD Board passed a resolution expressing its 
interest in augmenting its bilateral U.S.-Israel BARD 
program with a multilateral (U.S.-Israel-Jordan-Palestinian 
Authority) program, christened MARD (Multinational 
Agricultural R&D).  MARD would not affect any operations or 
funding of BARD, although the administrative machinery and 
conceptual framework of BARD would be used for MARD.  MARD 
would have a Board separate from the BARD Board.  There was 
a BARD-sponsored scientist-to-scientist meeting in Turkey in 
2004 to discuss the possibilities of collaboration between 
the four parties and to identify priorities.  Numerous areas 
of common interest were identified, all having potential 
benefits to all four partners in the agricultural and 
environmental sectors.  The May 23-24 discussions in Jordan 
thus represent the third step towards creating MARD. 
 
Israelis Pony Up Their Share 
---------------------------- 
 
3.  At the May 22 BARD Board meeting in Tel Aviv, Israeli 
board members pushed to start MARD with a total of $2 
million, $500,000 from each of the four parties.  At the May 
23 meeting in Jordan, Dr. Knipling said that this would be 
sufficient to fund three projects at $200,000 each per year 
for three years.  There was support from the participants 
for this approach, and recognition that finding the money 
was a difficult but not impossible task.  The Israeli 
Ministry of Finance has already committed Israel's $500,000 
share, and there is partial USDA-ARS commitment, subject to 
match.  (COMMENT: Israel has been seeking to expand BARD's 
endowment, and while wishing to protect the bilateral nature 
of BARD itself, sees MARD as an opportunity to attract new 
funding and carry out useful work with its immediate 
neighbors. END COMMENT.) 
 
BARD Board Visits Jordan 
------------------------ 
 
4.  Dr. Edward Knipling, Administrator (chief) of the USDA's 
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and newly-elected 
Chairman of the BARD Board, led a BARD Board delegation to 
Jordan on May 23-24 for discussions with Palestinian 
Authority and Jordanian officials and academics about the 
MARD concept.  He was accompanied by the two other U.S. 
members of the BARD board: Purdue Vice-Provost for 
Engagement Dr. Vic Lechtenberg and Dean of the University of 
California Davis' College of Agricultural and Environmental 
Sciences Dr. Neal Van Alfen.  Also participating were two 
Israeli BARD Board members: Ministry of Agriculture Chief 
Scientist Dr. Dan Levanon and Agricultural Research 
Organization (Volcani Institute) Director Dr. Eli Putievsky. 
The third Israeli member of the BARD Board is Ms Sivan 
Hector from the Israeli Ministry of Finance.  Ms Hector 
participated in the May 22 BARD Board meeting in Tel Aviv 
but did not visit Jordan. 
 
Wide Range of Parties Support MARD 
---------------------------------- 
 
5.  The host for the Jordan visit was Dr. Abdel Nabi 
Fardous, Director General of the National Center for 
Agricultural Research and Technology Transfer (NCARTT), the 
research arm of the Ministry of Agriculture.  Dr. Fardous 
and Dr. Knipling co-chaired a five-hour meeting on May 23 at 
NCARTT at which representatives of USDA/ARS, the University 
of California Davis, the Agricultural Research Organization, 
NCARTT, Hebron University, the Jordan University of Science 
and Technology (JUST), and BARD gave brief presentations on 
their respective organizations and their views on MARD. 
Palestinian Authority Minister of Agriculture Dr. Walid Abed 
Rabboh, a graduate of the University of Arizona, made an 
unscheduled intervention to express his support of MARD and 
for regional collaboration on agricultural issues. 
 
6.  While these organizations have different specialties and 
needs, presenters representing a wide range of Jordanian and 
Palestinian academe and officialdom stressed the value of 
cooperation and their desire to see MARD take shape.  The 
May 23 meeting concluded after a proposal from the floor 
that BARD Chairman Dr. Knipling write a letter to the 
Ministers of Agriculture in Israel, Jordan and the 
Palestinian Authority asking them to help bring MARD to life 
by appointing an official point of contact for MARD. 
7.  In a May 24 meeting with Jordanian Minister of 
Agriculture Yousef Shuraiki, Dr. Knipling summarized the 
plan for identifying official points of contact and moving 
quickly to identify funding for $500,000 from each party for 
a four-way match so that projects can begin.  Dr. Shuraiki 
endorsed the MARD proposal, saying it was "a good idea."  He 
added that Jordanian scientists from the Ministry of 
Agriculture are already collaborating with Israeli 
colleagues on topics of mutual interest. 
 
"We Are Committed to the United States" 
--------------------------------------- 
 
8.  COMMENT: The meeting and site visits went a long way 
towards convincing the Israelis not only of the depth of the 
Jordanian and Palestinian commitment, but also of their 
ability to work productively with Israeli and American 
colleagues.  The peace-making aspects of scientific 
cooperation were never far from peoples' minds, despite the 
focus on science.  Palestinian PhD holders from Washington 
State University, the University of Kansas, UC-Davis and 
other U.S. universities will take the lead in creating 
research and reconciliation with Israel.  Many of these 
people already have personal connections in the region; MARD 
will capitalize on that by broadening and institutionalizing 
these contacts.  The U.S. role, as usual, will remain 
pivotal. 
 
9.  USDA/ARS Administrator Knipling and Embassy Tel Aviv 
cleared this message. 
 
HALE