sustainability factors, effects of differential support mecha­nisms and elements of "good practice" so as to inform and guide the introduction of and to promote more widespread adoption of practically oriented interactive networking with a range of end users of AKST services.

6.3.4.3 Setting up institutional and organizational ar­rangements for knowledge based systems
A continual accumulation and application of agricultural knowledge,  science  and technology,  broadly  defined  as AKST, has been the necessary factor making possible the de­velopment of a global food and agriculture system. Several major changes are affecting the way this AKST is and will be made available in the future. Firstly, the political base for public food and agriculture support systems is eroding as rural populations change. Institutions once uninterested in food and agriculture are now devoting resources to food and agriculture. Secondly, there is a major shift in the gen­eration of AKST toward private rather than public funding. Further complicating matters, the above information on any subject is now easily available on the web and elsewhere, unrestrained by quality standards.
     Considering these elements, some of the options for ac­tion that would ensure the right dissemination and adoption of AKST would be to
•     Set up new forms of local innovation networks and ef­ficient "value-chains" associating all concerned actors to turn science into practice. For example, review the current link between science/extension/farmers to make it more efficient and, widen the more effective involve­ment of end-users (e.g., private sector, suppliers of goods and services, consumers, processing) and their potential benefits; and
•     Set up information systems that would aid AKST users in accessing information that is clear, transparent and reliable even if this means that some categories of users will have to pay a fee for it. For certain areas of a public good where public intervention is legitimate/desirable such as food security, impacts of climate change, the long term sustainability of agricultural systems, the pro­tection of natural resources and the environment and the livelihoods of vulnerable rural communities, large diffusion systems can be strengthened. In these areas public funding could support open and user-friendly in­formation systems.

6.3.4.4 AKST interactions between NAE and other regions
The development of AKST in North America and Europe has had both positive and negative effects on human wel­fare, independence, security and environmental quality in other regions of the world. It is important that the further development of AKST in NAE serve development and sus­tainability goals to reduce hunger and poverty, improve rural livelihoods and health, increase incomes and facili­tate equitable environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development in all world regions. The first and essential element in serving the purpose of empowering people and nations outside NAE in gaining new power to improve their own situation is the recognition that it is pos­sible to improve the nature of the interactions of NAE with other regions. It is therefore strongly recommended that the

guiding principles for people and institutions in NAE be reexamined.
     The next fifty years of NAE AKST interactions with other regions could be approached from a different point of view; that of two-way sharing rather than the predominant unidirectional view in which one part of the world helps another, less fortunate part of the world.
     The contributions of AKST to NAE have been partly documented in earlier chapters. New developments in AKST have the potential to play a key role in assisting other world regions to achieve higher levels of self-sufficiency and meet the challenges that will develop in the whole world over the next fifty years as we address the IAASTD question. Sustain­ability issues in particular will require an increase in interna­tional cooperation and coordination.
     The agriculture and food sector is the basis of economic livelihood for most developing countries and its health lies at the heart of the development process. Food security is more than food production. It is the efficient, reliable combina­tion of access to needed food supplies (directly or through markets) and the ability to pay for them. Consequently, while agricultural development is a critical starting block for the economic development process, more is needed. No country has successfully ended rural poverty on the back of agriculture alone. However, the converse also applies: for the poorest countries, economic growth and sustained poverty reduction are unlikely to be achieved without ini­tially stimulating sustained agricultural production growth. As agricultural development takes hold, its growth in pro­ductivity releases labor that needs to find alternative pro­ductive uses. This is both an opportunity and a challenge for development because uncontrolled migration to already overcrowded urban centers in many developing countries is equally problematic.
     More effort is called for in planning and funding effec­tive rural development strategies, including the investments in physical infrastructure and human capital that will con­nect a more diversified rural economy efficiently, through lo­cal and national markets, to the emerging global economy.
     AKST institutions in NAE need to be ready to participate actively with AKST institutions in other regions to address the IAASTD question. It is suggested that the issues associ­ated with interdisciplinarity and interactive knowledge net­works developed in this section may also be of fundamental importance in facilitating the development of the most ap­propriate working relationships between AKST in NAE and other regions. Previously articulated principles and issues could be used for developing different types of interactions between NAE and partners in other regions. Three examples of interactions are discussed more specifically below, one of them in SSA where the hunger and poverty issues are most stark and the two others through international agricultural research organizations and forums.

The Framework for African Agricultural Productivity (FAAP)
Africa is a region in critical need of new directions in ag­ricultural research and development. Africa's leaders see agriculture as an engine for overall economic development. Sustained agricultural growth at a higher rate than in the past is crucial for reducing hunger and poverty across the conti-