The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), a member of CGIAR, supported by the CGIAR Fund, is a non-profit agricultural research institute that aims to improve the livelihoods of the resource-poor across the world's dry areas. History ICARDA’s origins begin in April 1972 when the Technical Advisory Committee of GCIAR (then known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) expressed interest in agricultural research in the Near East and North Africa. TAC identified the semi-arid winter rainfall zone of the region as an important ecological area with specific crops and significant agricultural challenges which were not adequately addressed by any of the international agricultural research centers at the time. TAC selected Professor Dunstan Skilbeck to head a study during March and April of 1973. The Skilbeck Mission recommended the establishment of a new agricultural research center to deal with the agricultural issues of the region. TAC recommended the establishment of an international center in Lebanon. The eruption of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975 made prevented the establishment a center in Lebanon. The President of Syria Hafez al-Assad who had hoped to secure his own country's agriculture by working with this new institution made an attractive offer of free land for the center to the south of Aleppo. In 1977, ICARDA's headquarters were established in Tel Hadya, Syria. Today ICARDA's research activities include the development of new crop varieties, water harvesting, conservation agriculture, the diversification of production systems, integrated crop/rangeland/livestock production systems, and the empowerment of rural women. ICARDA was forced to re-locate again in 2012 due to the Syrian civil war. The center established headquarters in Beirut after leaving Aleppo in 2012. Support is provided by research centers and offices in Jordan, Morocco, Ethiopia, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Oman, Pakistan, Sudan, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Decentralization ICARDA's decentralization builds on the Center's existing organization. Staff have been relocated to Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Ethiopia, Egypt, Tunisia, and Turkey, and the Center has established temporary headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon. Integrated Research Platforms As part of its decentralization, ICARDA has established integrated research platforms that address research priorities in each region, but serve dry areas globally through collaboration and partnerships with national programs, advanced research institutions, and other partners in the development and dissemination of international public goods. The Center has developed four major Platforms, including the headquarters: Headquarters (West Asia): ICARDA