Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and many others. Research innovation themes When the center was set up in 1999, its focus was on biosaline agriculture and salinization. As it evolved, ICBA expanded its mandate first to water scarcity and later to a broader set of challenges in marginal environments. The center's research innovation themes include: management of natural resources in marginal environments; climate change modeling and adaption; crop improvement and sustainable production; and integrated agri-aquaculture systems. ICBA conducts applied research on use of fresh and non-fresh water in agriculture (such as saline, treated wastewater, industrial water, agricultural drainage, and seawater), water and land management technologies, crop improvement and diversification, and remote sensing and modeling for climate change adaptation. The center works to identify and introduce varieties of climate-resilient, salt-tolerant, and water-efficient crops in marginal environments. These crops include quinoa, amaranth, sorghum, pearl millet, Salicornia, dates and others. Since 2006-2007, ICBA has implemented a global research program on quinoa, resulting in the identification of five quinoa lines. This program has led to the successful adoption of quinoa in countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. The center has also achieved a breakthrough in its research on Salicornia under UAE conditions. Scientists have recorded a bumper seed yield of 3 tonnes per hectare using seawater passing through an aquaculture system. ICBA established a genebank in 2000 to conserve crop diversity and is officially part of the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. ICBA has been collecting and conserving seeds of salt-tolerant plant species for research purpose at ICBA and other institutes with similar research interests. ICBA’s genebank is home to one of the world’s largest collections of plant species and crop varieties that are tolerant of heat, drought and salt. It conserves more than 15,000 accessions of 270 plant species from more than 150 countries and territories. There are also around 250 seed samples of 70 wild plant species from the UAE, the center’s host country. ICBA distributes samples to scientists, farmers and other stakeholders in 57 countries. Refreshed ICBA Strategy 2019-2023 The guiding force behind