International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD)

The Intergovernmental Plenary of the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology will take Place 14-19 January 2008 in Nairobi, Kenya

The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) is an intergovernmental process, with a multi-stakeholder Bureau, under the co-sponsorship of the FAO, GEF, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, the World Bank and WHO with the aim of evaluating the relevance, quality and effectiveness of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (AKST); and effectiveness of public and private sector policies as well as institutional arrangements in relation to AKST.

The IAASTD is composed of one Global Assessment and five Sub-global Assessments, which will use the same basic framework as the Global Assessment, i.e., the impacts of AKST on hunger, poverty, nutrition, human health, and environmental and social sustainability in relation to both the past and the future. The Global and Sub-global assessments will be peer-reviewed by governments and experts, and approved by the Panel of participating governments.

The five Sub-global Assessments:
- Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) - Regional Institute: ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas)- East and South Asia and the Pacific (ESAP) - Regional Institute: World Fish Center- Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) - Regional Institute: IICA (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture)- North America and Europe (NAE)- Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)- Regional Institute: ACTS (African Centre for Technology Studies)

will be undertaken at the regional, national or local scales and will complement the Global Assessment by examining its context-specific aspects.