Six years ago, the World Bank and the Food and Agricultural Organization set up a consultative process to find out whether an international assessment of agricultural knowledge science and technology (AKST) was needed. The IAASTD was launched in September 2004 in Nairobi and was recommended by an intergovernmental plenary of stakeholders.The Assessment’s approach was to critically integrate questions about agricultural commodity production in relation to the environment, livelihoods of poor producers and consumers. This allowed the IAASTD to examine the complex relations that we may need to understand if we are to offer decision-makers viable options for policy generation.
