About ICBA
 ICBA
is an applied research and development center located in Dubai, UAE. Its mission
is to develop and promote the use of sustainable agricultural systems that use saline
water to grow crops.
The center, originally known as the Biosaline Agriculture Center, initially focused
on forage production systems and ornamental plants in countries of the Gulf Cooperation
Council and other parts of the Islamic world.
The technologies ICBA develops are, however, of global value and importance. Wherever
farmers face problems of saline soils or irrigation with salty water, ICBA is available
to help.
Mission
The ICBA mission is to demonstrate the value of marginal and saline water resources
for the production of economically and environmentally useful plants, and
to transfer the results of our research to national research services and communities.
Mandate
ICBA will help water-scarce countries improve the productivity, social equity and
environmental sustainability of water use through an integrated water resource systems
approach, with special emphasis on saline and marginal quality water.
Board of Directors
The members of the Board of Directors are appointed by the Islamic Development Bank
and the Center’s host country, the United Arab Emirates. The Director General of
ICBA, Dr Ismahane Elouafi, is an ex officio member of the Board.
<Please see the list>
Partners
- National and public institutions
- Ministries of agriculture and water resources
- Universities
- Local, regional and international research centers
- Development agencies
- Private sector companies
History
The origins of ICBA date back to the late 1980s and the early 1990s, when
scientists around the world started taking a greater interest in saline water and
the possibilities of using it more productively. International conferences in 1990
at the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah and at the UAE University at Al Ain concluded
that an R&D center to promote biosaline agriculture in the Gulf region should
be established.
A series of expert consultations initiated by the IDB in 1992 outlined the objectives
and activities of the new institute. In November of that year, the IDB Board of
Executive Directors approved financing for start-up operations. The Bank commissioned
an international consulting firm to undertake a detailed feasibility study for the
development of the center. The consultants identified the major irrigation and salinity
problems in the Arabian Peninsula and determined that productive agriculture and
effective greening projects could be conducted with highly saline irrigation water,
particularly at salinities between 6,000 and 15,000 parts per million (ppm). They
also found that little was known about salt-tolerant plants, and that adequate infrastructure
for evaluating salt tolerance or for developing management strategies for effective
use of saline irrigation was unavailable.
 A
Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) was established to advise the consultant
during the feasibility and development phases. The committee was comprised of members
from Australia, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the UK
and the USA. TAC ensured that ICBA would make major contributions to both its target
countries and to global biosaline technology. It also helped develop the early phases
of ICBA’s networking program.
Consultations between the Bank and the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) led to the selection of the UAE as host to the new center. In 1996,
an agreement was signed between IDB and the Government of UAE, represented by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, establishing ICBA as a formal entity. IDB
also attracted additional financial support for the center from the Arab Fund for
Economic and Social Development and the OPEC Fund. In 1997, the Municipality of
Dubai donated 100 hectares of land at Al Ruwayyah, 23 km south of Dubai. The site
was developed in 1997 and 1998, with 35 hectares being leveled and prepared for
irrigation trials by the Municipality of Dubai. The remainder of the station has
been kept in its original state of native rangeland.
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