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Introduction
1.
The development of agriculture requires the continuous generation and adoption of new and improved technologies, most of which in modern times originate from organized, science-based research. Prior to 1900 the expansion of area cultivated accounted for almost all of the increase in agricultural production. By the year 2000 there will be few significant areas where agricultural production can be substantially increased simply by adding more land. Expanded agricultural output will have to come from more intensive cultivation of areas already in use for agriculture. Intensification of agricultural production can be achieved by shortening the cropping or rearing cycle. Research for this purpose requires effective national capacity to generate and adapt the needed new and improved technologies and to ensure their proper application for sustainable agricultural production.
2.
The responsibility rests with each nation to choose and pursue its development path. In the agriculture sector, a capable and efficient national system for research is needed to pursue that path. Although substantial progress has been made in many countries of the region, much remains to be done in most of them to reach a fully effective capacity for well organized, science-based research. This capacity must today include awareness of the many and rapid advances taking place worldwide, as well as the ability to pursue actively the transfer of new and improved technologies developed outside the national system.
3.
To help develop and support this capacity of the national system, a network of international agricultural research centres has been established. These centres undertake research on problems common to two or more developing countries and assist in linking the national systems with the global agricultural research community. The network of centres is funded by the donor members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the CGIAR. The CGIAR is an international consortium sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Annex I provides a description of the CGIAR, its objectives, its centres, and its means and mode of operation.
4.
FAO established its Research Development Centre in 1970 and its Research and Technology Development Division in 1984 in order to give increased emphasis to its mandated mission to help strengthen the agricultural research capacities of its Member States. Its assistance has included the planning, organization and management of national systems and specific sectors, the provision of material resources, the training and education of research managers and scientists, the establishment and operation of cooperative research networks, and the fostering of regional and international cooperation in agricultural research.
5.
In regard to the CGIAR, FAO as its co-sponsor participates in setting policy for the international agricultural research centres and in monitoring their work so as to ensure that research priorities and needs of developing countries are addressed. These priorities and needs are kept under review inter alia through the views and recommendations of the FAO Regional Conferences, and provide much of the contents for major programme documents, most recently "Agriculture: Toward 2000" and its updated sequel.