At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, a new international consultative process on the risks and opportunities of using agricultural science to reduce hunger and improve rural livelihoods in the developing world was launched. The initiative is expected to last until mid-2003 and is being undertaken by the World Bank and its partners. The five co-chairs of the consultative process are Robert Watson (World Bank, former head of the UN`s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Louise Fresco (Assistant Director General, Agriculture Department of FAO), Seyfu Ketema (Executive Secretary of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)), Rita Sharma (Ministry of Agriculture, India) and Claudia Martinez Zuleta (former Deputy Minister of Environment, Colombia). It will look at the risks and opportunities of a broad range of issues, including biotechnology. See http://www.agassessment.org/index.html or contact [email protected] for more information.

05/10/2002