dedicated to the integral production of specialized, differentiated products, to meet social demands for more cultural diversity and preservation of the identity of peoples. The performance of these corporations, in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, is very high, because increased trade competition requires them to make large investments to mitigate the risk of losing markets.

3.4.1.2.4 Results of interaction among the systems
The openness of markets and borders creates a climate for investment in agriculture. National and transnational companies consolidate their control over production chains and the markets they serve. More production units manage to operate in this sphere, thereby improving their income. Nonfood imports, the monopoly over natural resources, and an intensification of the effects of climate change drive small farmers out of the circuit. These factors all exacerbate income inequality. More resources are invested in education, however, which are used to a great extent to retrain a large part of the rural population of displaced producers as skilled workers for industry. Partly as a result of these policies, the proportion of poor in the Latin American population is considerably reduced.
     In this situation of growth, various social groups have greater access to education, health, and food security, although major differences persist among LAC countries in terms of social and economic development. Access to jobs is still difficult for less skilled workers. Government intervenes to provide food, housing, and transportation for the unemployed. In societies in general, the value assigned to work changes, due to the development of a market geared to recreation and leisure activities.
     There is a sharp drop in urban food security problems in LAC, even in countries with a lower per capita income that rely on food imports. There is virtually no urban food security problem in LAC, or in other words food is regular, accessible, and available in the cities. As for food safety, the main sources of contamination are controlled by sophisticated health surveillance mechanisms.
    At the start of this period, the environmental sustainability of production systems becomes a priority for societies, and especially in the countries most vulnerable to environmental disasters related to climate change. In addition to threats to sustainability related to poor management of agricultural systems, they are also threatened now by the consequences of climate change. During this period, the environmental sustainability of agriculture is also affected by highly intensive competition among markets that demand more and more new products derived from exploitation of natural resources. The intensive agricultural practices reduce the elasticity of the response of many ecosystems, and lead to various problems in maintaining the efficiency of agricultural production systems over the long run.

3.4.2 Order from Strength
3.4.2.1 2007-2015

3.4.2.1.1 Context of AKST systems and agricultural
production
International trade in agricultural products in the region is
regulated by tariff and nontariff barriers. The latter ones are

designed to reduce the risk of bioterrorism. The possibility of evolving towards a free trade system is remote.
     The less developed countries have increasingly less capacity to invest in agricultural innovation. As a result, they are unable to compete on markets for differentiated agricultural products, and the best that they can do is to continue exporting commodities, in more and more difficult circumstances
because of the barriers imposed.
     Consumers in the more developed countries both within and outside the region are increasingly demanding in terms of quality, safety, functional properties, and environmentally friendly production methods for food and nonfood products. It is more and more difficult for less developed countries to satisfy these demands, but some of them serve special, high-value markets, such as markets for products from the jungles of the Amazon, Chaco Paraguayo, or the Bolivian salt desert, or from Patagonia—albeit on a limited scale. The domestic LAC markets are primarily made up of low-income consumers, who demand low-priced food.
     Despite the massive use of pesticides throughout the region, the frequency, severity, and presence of new pests and diseases continue, and the situation in some countries is worsened by changes in land use patterns, climate changes, and the lack of remedial action.
     The temperature and frequency of extreme climate events persist. Most countries in the region do not perceive the threat of climate change, and hence the need to direct agricultural R&D to that end. Social organizations that warn the public of the coming danger are not echoed by government authorities. There is also generally a low capacity to mitigate or adapt to climate change in most countries, because most of these countries give no priority to action in this area.
     At the outset of the period, some LAC countries adopt highly diverse measures for technological innovation, social development, environmental protection and biosafety. By the end of the period, as a result of the relationship with developed countries outside the region and their dependence on external resources, most of the LAC countries adopt more coherent biosecurity policies based on protocols imported from more developed countries, the implementation of which is completely subsidized by these developed countries. However, as a rule, these policies are not seen as stable in most countries, and in highly import-dependent countries, this stability is very much weakened.
     Management of these policies is also precarious, but due to the developed countries’ concern over bioterrorism, from midway through the period onwards, a slow transition towards establishing regulations and quality standards and enforcing compliance with them begins, to reduce the risk of terrorist acts related to the food supply or agricultural products. Early in the period governments, and by the end of the period transnationals, take responsibility for managing health standards and antiterrorist measures. Transnational corporations are only capable of exercising this control in the major cities.
     Public education does not lead to good results, especially in the less developed countries. Similarly, private education often offers defective, poor-quality courses and programs.
     In more developed countries, there is a major social concern that science should provide ways to avoid any bifromCK