Agenda 7. 24th FAO Regional Conference for Europe. Montpellier, France, 5-7 MAY 2004;

  A major challenge of the 21st century will be that of implementing sustainable development and meeting the food needs of an increasing world population. Technical experts from a range of disciplines have analysed the links between population and food and one of the conclusions reached is that, in view of the limited scope and high economic and environmental costs of expanding crop land, 80 percent of food production increases will have to come from increased yields on lands already in production.

  Agricultural extension is taking on new dimensions because of a global movement for reforming the national extension systems in developing countries. New learning needs of farming communities are emerging as the world enters into an era of globalization, privatization, decentralization and market-liberalization, while the traditional public extension services have not yet transformed in order to meet those needs satisfactorily. This publication addresses an increasing demand for practical, action-oriented guidelines which policy-makers could use in reforming extension systems.

  This international conference held in Accra, Ghana focussed on exchanging experiences in the fields of 'Extension and Poverty Reduction', Decentralization, and Public-Private Partnership in Agricultural Extension Delivery and Rural Development.

  Global trends in agricultural extension: challenges facing Asia and the Pacific region" was the Keynote paper presented at the FAO Regional Expert Consultation on Agricultural Extension, Research-Extension-Farmer Interface and Technology Transfer, held in Bangkok, 16-19 July 2002.

  Through a series of case studies and joint reflections, this informal "Neuchâtel Initiative" is helping to bring a measure of convergence to thinking on the objectives, methods and means of support for agricultural extension. The different members of the Neuchâtel Initiative have contributed to this framework in order to establish a basis for better applying these ideas in extension practice.

  This publication concerns the activity undertaken within the framework of the Word Bank's initiative on Institutional Reform in Irrigation and Drainage. Parameters used for irrigation schemes performance evaluation are presented in details.

  It takes into account farmers' participation in operation and management. The document also reports on performance of drainage systems, management information systems, and institutional factors.

  Examples of publications in this page: A history of farming systems research, Use and potential of wild plants in farm households, The Role of Farm Management in Agricultural Extension in the Pacific Islands.

  The mandate to develop these guidelines resulted from the World Food Summit Plan of Action. Objective 3.4 of Commitment Three in the Summit's Plan of Action stated that "governments, in collaboration with the international and scientific community, in both private and public sectors, as appropriate, will strengthen national research systems in order to develop coordinated programmes in support of research to promote food security".

  This paper, firstly, analyzes the main global trends and challenges foreseen for developments in agriculture, food, nutrition and trade; secondly, it examines the role of scientific research and technology in dealing with the various challenges and opportunities and, finally, it discusses paradigm shifts, policy adjustments and strategies for harnessing science, technology and knowledge towards enhanced and sustained agrarian prosperity.

  This paper analyses the main trends foreseen for developments in African agriculture, food and nutrition, inputs and natural resource use, and also the challenges emanating from the trends. It discusses the role of research and technology dissemination and adoption as key elements that need to be incorporated into a long-term, sustainable, strategy for the agricultural development of Africa. Finally, the last section highlights the main components that require more short-term, immediate actions and investments to avert food insecurity in Africa.

  Current trends and perspectives were used in preparing this manual. In the view of the editors, agricultural research and extension must become more demand driven if these institutions are to maintain or regain the public trust and to compete effectively for public funds.

  The purpose of this publication is to highlight the important role of agricultural and rural extension in the fight against hunger.  PDF

  The purpose of this study is primarily to review and analyze the national policy and strategy of the public extension system, the on-going programmes and the various approaches to provide farming communities with necessary assistance.

  This publication addresses the challenges faced by agricultural extension services in their provision of support to food security initiatives.

  In order to design extension policies and strategies that reach the poor in the development context of the 21st Century it is important to transcend the assumption that extension policy is a matter of a simple choice between traditional public sector service provision and full-scale privatisation. Neuchâtel Initiative.

  'Demand' is defined as what people ask for, need and value so much that they are willing to invest their resources, such as time and money, in order to receive the services.

  Word documents and powerpoint presentations of case studies on demand-driven services presented at the Annual Meeting 2004 of the Neuchatel Initiative in Aarhus, Denmark. Neuchâtel Initiative.

  Extension decentralization can have benefits and costs as well as advantages for some farmers and disadvantages for others. While it is possible that the decentralization of public-sector services can allow extension to be more responsive to the needs of local farmers, and especially small-scale farmers, major questions remain.

  While most studies focus on the economic impact or yield increases resulting from integrated pest management, this report highlights the participatory nature of the farmer field schools and the social impacts of farmers and extensionists working side by side.

  This webpage of the FAO Biotechnology website brings together biotechnology policy documents from FAO members. The majority are national policy documents, but regional (within country) documents are also included.

  Modern biotechnology for food and agriculture raises a wide variety of ethical questions, including in relation to the need to ensure food security for present and future generations, to conserve and sustainably use natural resources, to respect human rights, and to share the benefits of technology in an equitable manner. National legislation and international law constitute one of the ways in which such concerns are operationalized.

  The majority of biotech research and almost all of the commercialization of genetically engineered crops has been done by private firms based in industrialized countries. The dominance of the private sector in biotechnology research and product development has raised concern in developing countries that their farmers -particularly poor farmers- may not benefit from biotechnology either because it is not available or is too expensive.

  Agricultural biotechnology is a national priority and following ratification of a national agricultural biotechnology programme, implemented in 2001-2005, a national commission was established to address issues of biotechnology and biosafety policy.

  The rural people in developing countries are often far removed from many important decision-making processes. Production and consumption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is a topical issue and could impact on socio-cultural systems of rural populations in developing countries. Involving the rural people in decision-making on GMOs was discussed during this moderated e-mail conference hosted by the FAO Biotechnology Forum in 2005.

   This report is aiming to compile and analyse the current situation of biotechnology and biosafety issues in the Balkans and the Caucasus based on consultant assessments and official information from web sites.

  Marker assisted selection (MAS) is a complementary technology, for use in conjunction with more established conventional methods of genetic selection, for plant and animal improvement. It has generated a good deal of expectations, many of which have yet to be realised.

  Description of main activities and mandate, links to main counterparners and regional research associations.

  This collection of documents is an attempt to contribute towards this capacity building effort. It is meant to give the reader a broad choice of training resources on different biosafety issues.

  EASYPol is an on-line, interactive multilingual repository of downloadable resource materials for capacity development in policy making for food, agriculture and rural development.

  Studies, documents on performance measurement, CGIAR centers' and challenge programs' medium term plans, Science Council commentaries to center medium term plans, Challenge Programs, systemwide program and stripe reviews and recent external review reports of CGIAR Centers.