Bridging the information gap in agriculture
16 Sep 2013
AGORA makes online scientific literature available to over 100 poor countries - Tenth anniversary celebrated in Rome. See FAO News story.
AGORA, a programme that brings key scientific literature on food, agriculture and related fields to students, researchers and scientists, has become a crucial tool for some of the world's poorest countries.
Ten years after its launch in 2003, AGORA (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture) now provides free or low-cost access to over 3 500 key journals and 3 300 books in food, nutrition, agriculture and related biological, environmental and social sciences.
"Lack of access to knowledge is a major bottleneck for many poor countries to develop their agricultural sector and ensure food security," said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva celebrating AGORA's 10th anniversary in Rome.
Graziano da Silva added that knowledge is only valuable to the extent that those who need it can access it.
"And this is the strength of the AGORA partnership: FAO, publishers and the scientific community have come together to facilitate the access to knowledge to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide."
"Knowledge is a public good. By putting this public good at the reach of those in the poorer countries, we are helping to break an important barrier that hinders development," he said.
