Key Messages

1. East and South Asia and Pacific (ESAP) has con­siderable diversity in agroecological zones, which af­fects the resources available for production systems.
Changes in resources have implications for productivity and sustainability of production systems. This region was rich in natural resources and biodiversity but is vulnerable to disas­ters and faces losing biodiversity. Decreasing farm size poses a major constraint to agricultural productivity and adop­tion of AKST (agricultural knowledge, science and technol­ogy). Wide variations in agriculture demand diverse AKST to ensure productivity and sustainable development.

2. People are the wealth of ESAP. Since this region is home to three of the world's most populous countries, investing in people will yield development dividends.
The demographics of the region are changing rapidly, due to a remarkable decline in fertility and increase in life expec­tancy. Developing countries in the region have a relatively large youthful population, with labor supply advantages compared to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries with rapidly aging popula­tions.

3. Urbanization in the region has accelerated in the last five decades, with implications for demand for food and a significant rural population lacking basic ser­vices and education demanding attention on rural de­velopment. The agricultural labor force is changing, with increased participation of mostly underpaid and unpaid fe­males, children and family. The region has made significant gains in education and literacy. But educational attainment has been marked by gender and rural disparities, with un­even gains in human capital. The region also has had high international and internal migration, leading to labor flight but with remarkable growth in remittances received.

4. Human welfare in the region has improved overall, but South Asia continues to have a high concentra­tion of poverty and poor nutrition. Significant dispari­ties in well-being have been observed between urban and rural areas. Rural communities have experienced increas­ingly greater poverty, with many women among the rural poor. Persisting poverty and food insecurity within ESAP developing countries require public assistance programs to provide safety nets for the marginalized population. Two current threats to human well-being in the region are HIV and AIDS and the highly pathogenic avian influenza, both of which have adverse effects on the rural economy.

5. Stringent trade barriers adopted by industrial coun­tries have constrained international trade in the region.
The AKST system has been challenged by the task of assist­ing farmers in ESAP to adopt good farming practices and im­prove the quality of exportable produce and commodities to overcome import constraints, such as food safety standards. As multinational negotiations, such as with the World Trade Organization (WTO), have achieved little progress, regional free trade agreements have been promoted to develop re­gional trade blocks and strengthen intraregional trade, like

the free trade agreement between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

6. Domestic trade in agriculture has played a sizeable role in national economies of the region, although it has not often been explicitly addressed in discussions on the effects of trade on agriculture. As urbanization increases and economic conditions improve, the demand for high-quality and high-value agriculture commodities should expand. This domestic demand would affect trade in agri­culture.

1.1       IAASTD Framework
An assessment is a critical, objective evaluation and analysis of information, including local knowledge, designed to meet user needs and support decision making. It is an applica­tion of experts' judgment in providing scientific answers to policy questions, quantifying the level of confidence wher­ever possible.
     Agriculture in this report is defined broadly to include crops, livestock and pastoralism, fisheries, biomass, and ag­ricultural goods and services, and land management, such as forestry and agroforestry.
     Variations in grouping of countries adopted by differ­ent UN agencies under ESAP affect using United Nations (UN) data to arrive at generalizations on regional trends. The countries that make up ESAP (Table 1-1) are differ­ent in size, geography, agroecological systems, production systems, culture, religion and political systems, economic performance and social development. The complex regional realities are shaped by historical trends, agroecological en­vironments, farming practices, contradictions surrounding agriculture trade and aid to farmers, and investment in ag­riculture knowledge, science and technology. Collectively these affect AKST generation and application with signifi­cant variation in processes and outcomes in achieving the goals of development and sustainability in ESAP countries.
     The conceptual framework (Figure 1-1) provides guid­ance on common concepts and terminology and enables sys­tematic analysis and appraisal of the primary goals of the assessment. It illustrates links among several components and the process, methods and tools for addressing them. Components include direct drivers of change: availability and management of natural resources, climate change, la­bor, energy and AKST use; and indirect drivers: economic change, demographic change, changes in level and availabil­ity of education, sociopolitical changes, changes in infra­structure, agricultural knowledge, science and technology. The assessment focuses on interactions among the drivers to understand how to facilitate development and sustain­ability goals.

1.2      ESAP Agroecological Production Systems
The ESAP region covers South and East Asia and the Pa­cific. The countries are diverse in population, size, economy and agroecological zones and the resource base varies. This resource base, among and within countries, determines the prevalent production system. Under each production sys­tem, crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry or in any combina­tion, there is a set of appropriate AKST, which may come