North America and Europe Subglobal Report

6.2.9	Developing sustainable systems for fisheries and
	aquaculture 239
	6.2.9.1 Coastal capture fisheries in the NAE region 239
	6.2.9.2 Aquaculture 240
6.2.10	Ensuring socioeconomic viability of the systems and improving
	rural livelihoods 241
	6.2.10.1 Social issues 241
	6.2.10.2 Economic issues 243
	6.2.10.3 Sustainable rural livelihoods 244
	6.2.10.4 Understanding farmer attitudes and behavior 245
	6.2.10.5 Rural development 246
6.3	Development of Human Capital, Organizations and
	Institutions 246
6.3.1	Towards interactive knowledge networks 246
	6.3.1.1 Promote stakeholder interaction 247
	6.3.1.2 Recognize the importance of indigenous and traditional
	knowledge 247
6.3.2	Towards meaningful interdisciplinarity 248
	6.3.2.1 Enlarge the scope of agricultural knowledge systems 248
	6.3.2.2 New skills for AKST personnel 249
	6.3.2.3 Need for new learning opportunities 250
	6.3.2.4 Interactions with policy makers and political leaders 250
	6.3.2.5 Public understanding of the multiple roles of
	agriculture 250
	6.3.2.6 Initial education/training for farmers 250
	6.3.2.7 Stimulate links between higher education and research
	and facilitate the harmonization of the different education
	systems 251
	6.3.2.8 Promote lifelong learning and create a learning
	society 251
6.3.3	Strengthening information and knowledge-based systems 251
	6.3.3.1 Reducing the "Digital-divide" 252
	6.3.3.2 Reconfiguration of information systems 252
	6.3.3.3 From information systems to knowledge based
	systems 252
6.3.4	Promoting appropriate institutional and organizational
	arrangements 252
	6.3.4.1 Towards new and "engaged" public institutes 252
	6.3.4.2 Innovative education and research models 253
	6.3.4.3 Setting up institutional and organizational arrangements
	for knowledge based systems 254
	6.3.4.4 AKST interactions between NAE and other regions 254
6.4	Reshaping Policy Environment and Governance Systems 258
6.4.1	Developing a coherent policy framework 258
6.4.2	Developing AKST in response to international agreements 259
6.4.3	Enlarging the range of proprietary regimes 260
	6.4.3.1 General issues concerning proprietary regimes and IPR 260
	6.4.3.2 Intellectual property rights 261
	6.4.3.3 Access to genetic resources for food and agriculture 261
6.4.4	Setting up new modes of governance 262
	6.4.4.1 General governance issues in food and farming systems 262
	6.4.4.2 Fisheries issues 263
	6.4.4.3 Forestry issues 263
6.5	Funding Investments in Research and Development (R&D)
	for Agriculture 264
6.5.1	Spending on R&D 264
6.5.2	Paying for agricultural R&D 264
6.5.3	Undertaking agricultural R&D 265
6.5.4	Deciding on R&D 265
6.5.5	Institutional arrangements and collaboration 265
6.5.6	Funding mechanisms and enablers of AKST 266

Key Messages

1. Successfully meeting development and sustainabil-ity goals and responding to new priorities and changing circumstances will require widespread recognition of a paradigm shift that is already in process. This new paradigm accords increased importance to the multiple functions of agriculture and its adaptability to local environment and social contexts. This multifunctionality* of agriculture can only be understood and managed by developing new conceptual tools to take into account the complexity of agricultural systems and by placing agriculture in its social and ecological context. New institutional and organizational arrangements are essential to support a more integrated approach to the development, dissemination and uptake of AKST, with increased emphasis on interactive knowledge networks between research, education and extension, multidisciplinary research programs, the involvement of stakeholders in defining research agendas and the provision of education, training and advisory programs that enable a wider group of stakeholders to address these new complexities. Working successfully on this new agenda for agriculture suggests a need for ongoing attention to achieving the proper balance between public and private involvement in AKST with respect to funding, property regimes, delivery and overall governance. Successfully meeting development and sustainability goals requires a range of interactions among the various regions of the world.

AKST Options for Addressing Global Issues

2. Develop strategies to counteract detrimental effects of the agrifood system on climate change and reduce vulnerability to such change. Reducing agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases within NAE will require changes to farming systems, land use and practices throughout the agrifood system, such as increasing energy efficiency and carbon sequestration. In addition, AKST can be developed and used to reduce the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture in NAE and other regions, for example through drought, pest, temperature and salinity tolerant plants.

3. Develop interventions that aid in prevention and better management of new and emerging human, plant and livestock diseases as well as weed and insect problems. The epidemiological dynamics of the overall system from both spatial and temporal scales require better understanding and the development of suitable surveillance and response networks. Early detection and new diagnostic and curative tools are important.

4. Develop and evaluate biofuels. Innovations in AKST can contribute to the development of economically feasible biofuels and biomaterials that have a positive energy and environmental balance and that may be ethically justified by not compromising the world food supply. Research could

* The term multifunctionality has sometimes been interpreted as having implications for trade and protectionism. It is used here solely to express the inescapable interconnectedness of agriculture's role and functions.

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