Agriculture%20at%20a%20Crossroads_Global%20Report%20(English)

4 | IAASTD Global Report
being on Earth; the IAASTD concentrates on how knowledge,
science and technology can contribute to agricultural
development. This assessment is a specific step among several
global efforts to achieve sustainable development that
have emerged in follow-up processes and policies of the
World Conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. AKST will
contribute to the achievement of these goals. Specifically,
the IAASTD will contribute to knowledge-based decision
making for future sustainable development by assessing: (1)
those interrelations within AKST relevant to sustainable development;
(2) knowledge and scientific development, technology
diffusion, innovation, and adaptation of ecosystem
management; and (3) the integration of AKST within international,
regional, national and local development policies
and strategies.
What is an assessment?
International assessments are very useful when they address
complex issues of supranational interest and dimensions.
A number of assessments have been undertaken by
many organizations and individuals in the past two decades:
the Global Biodiversity Assessment (GBA), the Ozone Assessment,
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) reports, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
(MA), the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management
in Agriculture (CA), the Global Environment Outlook
(GEO), and now, the International Assessment of Agriculture,
Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development
(IAASTD).
The evidence-based analyses that underpin the outcomes
of the various assessments have common characteristics. A
key point is that an assessment is not simply a review of the
relevant literature; it can be based, in part, on a literature
review, but also needs to provide an assessment of the veracity
and applicability of the information and the uncertainty
of outcomes in relation to the context of the identified questions
or issues within a specified authorizing environment
(Table 1-1).
To be effective and legitimate, the assessment process
was designed to be open, transparent, reviewed, and widely
representative of stakeholders and relevant experts, and the
resulting documents to be broadly reviewed by independent
experts from governments, private and nongovernmental
organizations, as well as by representatives of the participating
governments. Obtaining a balance of opinions in a
global assessment based on a literature review and relevant
expertise is an ongoing and iterative challenge to ensure
that it encompasses a broad range of disciplinary and geographical
experience and different knowledge systems. The
IAASTD has been designed in a way that attempts to ensure
effectiveness and legitimacy.
The role of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology
(AKST). Agricultural knowledge, science and technology are
seen as key factors and instruments for future adjustment of
indirect and direct drivers of agricultural outputs, as well as
of ecosystem services. Assessing AKST sets the stage for an
informed choice by decision-makers among various options
for development. It indicates how policy and institutional
frameworks at all organizational levels might affect sustainability
goals. Specifically, it provides the basis for designing
AKST in a way that mitigates detrimental development dynamics
such as growing disparities, the decreasing share
of agricultural value-added and the degradation of ecosystems.
In other words, the assessment draws lessons about
what conditions have led AKST to have an impact on development
that has been positive for human and ecosystem
well-being, and where, when and why impacts have been
negative. Moreover, it explores the demands that are likely
to be made on agricultural systems (crops, livestock and
pastoralism, fisheries, forestry and agroforestry, biomass,
commodities and ecosystem services) in the future, asking
what agricultural goods and services society will need under
different plausible future scenarios in order to achieve the
goals related to hunger, nutrition, human health, poverty,
equity, livelihoods, and environmental and social sustainability,
and whether and how access to these goods and services
is hindered. The result is an evidence-based guide for
policy and decision-making.
IAASTD commitment to sustainable development. IAASTD
sees the assessment of AKST and its implications for agriculture
as a prerequisite for knowledge-based decision-making
for future sustainable development portfolios. Specifically,
IAASTD aims to contribute to knowledge-based, decisionmaking
for future sustainable development by:
1. Identifying interrelations between agricultural knowledge,
science and technology in view of sustainable development;
2. Exploring knowledge and scientific development, technology
diffusion, innovations and adaptations of ecosystem
management;
3. Supporting the integration of agricultural knowledge,
science and technology (AKST) within international
and national development policies and strategies.
IAASTD’s relationship to the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
(MA). The MDGs and the MA are cornerstones for development
policy and serve as major references for the IAASTD.
In addition to these frameworks, the IAASTD assesses
AKST in relation to the objective of meeting broader development
and sustainability goals. It is generally assumed that
AKST can play a major role in efforts to achieve the MDGs,
particularly that of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger
(MDG 1) by improving the productivity of agriculture in
general and the competitiveness of smallholders and marginalized
groups in the expanding global, national and local
markets in particular, as well as by creating employment
among poor rural people and making food available to consumers
everywhere. AKST can also contribute directly or
indirectly to improving primary education and social and
gender equity, reducing child mortality, improving maternal
health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
(MDG 2-6), and ensuring environmental sustainability
(MDG 7) by delivering a variety of supporting, regulating
and cultural services (MDG 8). The IAASTD assessment enables
a more adequate consideration of the linkage between
poverty reduction and environmental change.
Key questions for the IAASTD. The major question for
this assessment is: “How can we reduce hunger and