erly functioning producer and service organizations, the social and biophysical suitability of technologies transferred in specific environments and proper management of those technologies at plot, farm and landscape levels. The implementation of the ToT model increased production at a faster pace than population growth in most developing countries, an achievement which did not appear likely thirty or forty years ago when the specter of famine and food crises loomed very large.

     But AKST arrangements shaped by the ToT model have not been effective in meeting a broader range of goals associated with the multiple functions and roles of farm enterprises and diverse agroecosystems. Recognition of these limitations led to a growing awareness or rediscovery- documented by robust evidence-that innovation is a multisource process of demand-pull that always and necessarily involves a mix of stakeholders, organizations and types of knowledge systems. Effective innovation for combined sustainability and development goals has been led by farmers in association with a range of local institutional actors and has occurred in both OECD and tropical settings. Multiorganizational partnerships for AKST that embraces both advanced scientific understanding and local knowledge and experimental capacities have led to the development and wider adoption of sustainable practices such as participatory plant breeding, integrated pest management, precision farming and multiyear nutrient management.

     Agricultural and social science research and education offer examples of diverse partnerships with potential to advance public interest science and increase its relevance to equitable and sustainable development goals. A range of knowledge, science and technology partnerships among corporate actors in the agricultural and food industries, consumer organizations, NGOs, social movements and farmer organizations have pioneered ecologically and socially sustainable approaches to food and agriculture. Experience suggests that effective and enforceable codes of conduct can strengthen multi-organizational partnerships, preserve public institutions' capacity to perform public-good research and mobilize private commercial capacity to serve sustainability and development goals.

2.4.2 AKST and education

The ability of farmers and other actors to collaborate effectively in demand-pull partnership arrangements for the generation and implementation of AKST critically depends on the quality of the formal and informal education available to them. Basic and occupational education also empowers individuals and communities to drive the evolution of farming and build agroenterprises, adapt to new job opportunities and be better prepared for migration if necessary. Over the past decades various education and extension programs have enhanced farmers' education through the integration of formal and informal AKST. Generally the most effective have built on local and indigenous knowledge and innovation systems, typically through participatory and experiential learning processes and multi-organizational partnerships. Proven options include but are not limited to experiential learning groups, 4-H clubs, farmer field schools, farmer research circles, participatory plant breeding, social forestry and related community-based forest landscape

management, study clubs and community interaction with school-based curriculum development. Their gains at local levels often are undermined by higher level interests and by economic drivers.

     Measures that remove or mitigate race, ethnic and gender biases that hamper the participation in educational opportunity of marginalized community members, diverse ethnic groups and women have been essential for local progress toward social equity but have not been widely adopted. Investment in the education and training of government policymakers and public agency personnel, particularly in decentralized participatory planning and decision-making and in understanding how to work effectively with rural communities and other stakeholders has also proven effective in promoting progress toward combined sustainability and development goals; broader issues of governance remain a concern.

     More generally, experience shows that investment in science-informed, farmer-centered learning and in other rural actors' educational needs develops grassroots capacity to critically assess, define and engage in positive locallydirected development and the sustainable management of their environment. Modern ICTs are beginning to open up new and potentially powerful opportunities for extending the reach and scope of educational and interactive learning opportunities. Extension and advisory services complement but do not substitute for rural and occupational education.

2.4.3 Public policy and regulatory frameworks

International agreements informed by scientific evidence and public participation have enabled decisive and effective global transitions toward more sustainable practices (for example, the Montreal Protocols, the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, the FAO Code of Conduct, the EU Thematic on Sustainable Agriculture). However, new national, regional and international agreements will be needed to support further shifts towards ethical, equitable and sustainable food and agriculture systems in response to the urgent challenges such as those posed by the declining availability of clean water and competing claims of water, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, climate change, exploitative labor conditions.

     Awareness of the importance of ensuring full and meaningful participation of multiple stakeholders in international and public sector AKST policy formation has increased over the period. For example, in some countries, pesticide policies today are developed by diverse group of actors including civil society and private sector actors, informed by science and empirical evidence and inclusive of public interest concerns. These policies-exemplified by the 2007 European thematic on IPM-focus on the multifunctionality of agriculture.

     Three thematic narratives on the management of germplasm, pests and food systems illustrate the role of public policy and regulatory frameworks as key drivers of AKST.

• The number and diversity of actors engaged in the management of germplasm has declined over time, driven in large part by advancements in science, privatization of seed supply and more widespread recourse to various intellectual property regimes. This trend reerly