AT A GLANCE - Today nearly 800 million people are chronically unnourished because they lack access to food in a world where food is abundant. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) commit the international community to reducing poverty and hunger by half.
- The increase in food demand will need to be met by productivity increases and the diversification of the food supply. This will need to be achieved without compromising the already scarce natural resources.
International Assessment of Agricultural Science & Technology for Development The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) will provide an assessment of both past and potential impacts of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology on development. At a meeting hosted by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in September 2004 in Kenya, 185 participants adopted an intergovernmental governance structure for the IAASTD initiative, coupled with a multi-stakeholder Bureau. Participants included 45 governments – 86 representatives from civil society, and 29 participants from the co-sponsoring agencies (World Bank, FAO, UNEP, UNESCO, UNDP, and WHO). The International Assessment initiative will provide decision-makers additional knowledge on agricultural science and technology to reduce hunger and poverty, improve rural livelihoods, and facilitate equitable, environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development. The assessment itself will focus on: nutritional security, livelihoods, human health, and environmental sustainability. It will evaluate the relevance, quality, and effectiveness of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology; and effectiveness of public and private sector policies and institutional arrangements in relation to agricultural knowledge, science, and technology. The IAASTD will carry out a global assessment and five sub-global assessments: Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and West Asia and North Africa, and East and South Asia and the Pacific.
The Assessment will have a baseline budget of US$10.76 million, made up of cash and in-kind contributions from the co-sponsoring agencies, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), governments, and civil society. Due to the intergovernmental nature of the co-sponsors, governments participating in the First Plenary were content with the collaborative arrangements amongst the agencies. Status - The Global Design Team met in Bangkok, Thailand, in early February. They developed a conceptual framework for the global and sub-global components of the Assessment and an annotated chapter outline for the Global Report.
- Sub-global design teams will meet in April 2005 to develop annotated chapter outlines for their respective components.
- After all outlines are completed, governments and civil society will be asked to nominate authors for the reports.
- An Integrated Design Team, comprised of representatives from the global and sub-global teams will meet in May 2005 to ensure consistency and to present the final design to the Advisory Bureau, at which time the Bureau will select the authors on advice from the IAASTD Secretariat.
- Author meetings for developing the report will begin in September 2005.
For more information, please see: www.agassessment.org
Updated March 2005 Media Contacts:
Sergio Jellinek, 202-458-2841, Email: Sjellinek@worldbank.org
Kristyn Ebro, 202-458-2736, Email: Kebro@worldbank.org
Tracey Osborne, 202-473-4033, Email: Tosborne@worldbank.org |
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