focus on improving the energy content of biofuel crops and other raw materials and the overall energy efficiency of these systems, as well as new systems that do not compete with food production for land and water such as marine algae and cyanobacteria.

5. Understand the processes and consequences of international trade and market liberalization and iden­tify actions to promote fair trade and market reform to achieve development and sustainability goals. NAE
has an obligation to facilitate AKST, which can enhance ca­pacity together with other regions regarding:
•     Viable production systems to achieve food security and sustainable rural livelihoods,
•     Improved access to and further development of global and local markets,
•     Policies to promote fair trade and address market fail­ure, including review of practices such as the use of sub­sidies, dumping and regulatory regimes and
•     Mechanisms for interactive knowledge and technology exchange among NAE and other regions, including the participation of international governmental and govern­ment organizations and trade and farmer associations.

AKST Options for Improving Food and Farming Systems and their Sustainability

6. Intensify the focus on nutrition, health, food quality, diversity and safety through different agricultural systems ranging from intensive systems providing basic commodities to more extensive and local systems providing differentiated products. Research and technological developments in new food systems can usefully continue in several directions: to obtain a deeper understanding of the relationships between food, diet and health; to improve quality of raw materials; to enhance the ability to trace along the food chain to sup­port quality and safety assurance; to devise better systems to control food safety vis-à-vis microbial contamination, mycotoxins and xenobiotics.

7. Enhance research in ecological and evolutionary sciences as applied to agricultural ecosystems to de­vise, improve and create management options that contribute to multifunctionality. Such options call for an ecological approach to agroecosystems for better water, soil and biodiversity management at landscape scales and im­proved preservation of genetic resources in special collec­tions and in natural conditions.

8. Improve standards of soil and water management among farmers, including irrigation, as a critical com­ponent of sustainable farming systems. There is con­tinuing need to improve the scientific understanding of soil and water processes, simultaneously drawing on local knowledge, in order to support the wise use of these funda­mental agricultural resources through the development and widespread adoption of appropriate farming technologies.

9. Strengthen breeding activities, generate basic and applied knowledge and further develop relevant tech­nologies, including biotechnologies. It is essential that

classical breeding be maintained and expanded to a wider diversity of species. The use and development of both func­tional genomics and systems biology and the establishment of new breeding methods integrating genomics information will be essential. There are varying opinions in NAE on the poten­tial benefits and risks of transgenic organisms as well as the required regulatory framework. Assessment of new breeding products requires evaluation of the social, economic, envi­ronmental and health implications of their dissemination and must have a long term and wide scale perspective.

10.  Reduce environmental  impacts through diver­sification and selection of inputs and management practices that foster ecological relationships within agroecosystems. These conservation agriculture practices include  ecologically  based  pest  management,  minimum tillage, protected cropping and precision farming, among others. AKST is required to analyze the environmental foot­print of agriculture and determine the environmental limits within which it must operate. New research in AKST can help design management practices and policy measures that improve environmental performance as a critical compo­nent of sustainability.

11. Assess impacts of management systems on animal welfare and develop and promote humane practices.
Ethical standards of animal handling and slaughter and at­tention to the environment in which domestic livestock are raised can significantly reduce stress and suffering of domes­tic livestock and should be included in future management.

12. Explore, promote and manage the multiple roles of forests to conserve soil, maintain water quality and quantity, protect biodiversity and sequester carbon.
Assigning value to ecosystem services and forest resources and improving long-term sustainability and resilience to en­vironmental change will enhance forest stewardship and the livelihoods of people dependent on forest resources.

13. Improve the sustainability of coastal capture fish­eries and aquaculture. Fisheries and aquaculture man­agement  will  benefit  from  ecosystem  management  and monitoring that reduce the ecological effects of fishing technology, facilitate selective fishing and create markets for by-catch. Aquaculture can be improved by better under­standing the relationship between fish immunity and disease and reducing effects of escapes on native fish. Reducing im­pacts of waste and developing more sustainable alternative sources of fish feed are critical needs.

14. Comprehensively assess new technologies for their impact on the environment, economic returns, health and livelihoods. All new technologies (transgenics, nano-technology, biofuel production, etc.) will benefit from thor­ough analysis with tools such as life-cycle impact analysis and social, economic and vulnerability impact assessment. In the past, the rapid application of technology before full assessment has led to unforeseen problems. Analytical tools that allow the examination of effects on different stakehold­ers, different agrifood sectors and different dimensions (e.g., environmental and social) are essential.