marker-assisted selection in wheat - ictsd

444Marker-assisted selection – Current status and future perspectives in crops, livestock, forestry and fishdivorced from the policies and objectivesunderpinning country-based and donorassistedstrategies for achieving the targetsset by the World Food Summit (WFS), theMDGs, and as described in national PRSPsand in national and regional programmesfor food security. Policies and strategiesfor successful implementation of MAS arealso inextricably linked to those for thesector as a whole and its various subsectors,and encompass cross-cutting issueslike the management of S&T includingmodern biotechnology, genetic resourcesand other developments in the internationalpolicy and regulatory arenas thatcross lines of national sovereignty. Policyconsiderations and options for MAS aretherefore described within these broaderframeworks.The chapter begins by outlining thesocial and economic contexts within whichthe agricultural sector currently operates,the challenges it faces, the main politicalforces driving change, and both theprocesses and considerations involved indeveloping comprehensive agriculturaldevelopment policies. It then goes on todiscuss and provide options available tocountries for formulating policies for agriculturalresearch, S&T, biotechnology andgenetic resources for food and agriculture(GRFA), arguing that in most countriesthere is substantial scope for greater “joinedup” thinking and coherence of action informulating, implementing and monitoringthe outcomes and impacts of programmesand projects involving MAS. Based onthe author’s interpretation of the informationprovided by other contributors to thisbook, there then follows a section coveringsome general points that policy- anddecision-makers should consider beforeembarking on MAS, and this is followed bysections dealing respectively with considerationsfor priority-setting and options forimplementing MAS. The chapter concludesby looking at the future of MAS, stressingthe need for greater effort in building politicalsupport, in setting priorities and betterdelineating the roles and responsibilities ofdifferent stakeholders, in fostering partnershipsand in creating more effective deliverymechanisms.ContextHunger, poverty and agricultureThe number of people who go hungryeach day in developing countries standsat around 820 million and around 24 percentof the people in developing countriesare absolutely poor, living on less thanUS$1 a day (FAO, 2006). Hunger and povertyin the midst of plenty are the centralchallenges in today’s global economy andsociety, but if the trends of the past decadeare extrapolated forward, there will still be582 million undernourished people by 2015(FAO, 2006). This is well short of the targetof 412 million that was set at the time of theWFS in 1996, although possibly on track tomeet the somewhat less ambitious MDGsthat were set in 2000. More than half ofthe 582 million will be in South Asia andEast Asia, with 203 million and 123 millionrespectively, while sub-Saharan Africa willbe home to 179 million hungry. The challengeis not only to provide food security in2015 for the present 820 million malnourished,but for the additional 600 millionpeople born over the coming nine years andthe nine billion people projected to makeup the world’s population by the middle ofthis century.The nature and causes of hunger andpoverty are many, varying widely betweenand within countries; they are also evolvingand often interlinked. Even so, the factthat they are most concentrated in rural