C.2: Technology
Adoption of appropriate technology to sustainably intensify production systems and to ensure sufficient supplies of food and
agricultural, fisheries and forestry goods and services
Other Information:
To meet growing needs while preserving the natural resource base, production must be transformed, especially at the level
of small-scale producers. This will require effective intensification of production systems, which in turn calls for broader
choices of what to produce, as well as the identification and adoption of more efficient and sustainable agricultural management
practices. The adoption of improved technology underpins not only better pre- and post-production enterprises, but also sustainable
rural development in the larger context. Production beyond subsistence levels is a competitive business, and fine-tuning of
the production system through technology improvement is fundamental for the producer, the economy and for sustainable development.
The challenge is generally not to optimize the production of one commodity in isolation, but to promote holistic systems approaches
and to recognize the economic and social, including gender, dimensions related to the transfer and adoption of appropriate
technology. While advising on new techniques and promoting applied research, emphasis will also be placed on enabling producers
to increase productivity to levels commonly obtained in field demonstrations using existing techniques. Strategy components:
The components include: monitoring advances in technology, including biotechnology, and analysing their possibilities for
enhancing production systems in member countries; this will include actively influencing the international research agenda
to address issues of food security and sustainability; promoting and assisting in the evaluation of promising techniques for
the intensification and diversification of crop, livestock, fisheries and forest production systems, capturing opportunities
for subregional specialization; risk assessment analysis associated with the application of new biological technology will
also be addressed; promoting applied research aimed especially at underpinning the adoption of improved techniques, including
integrated plant nutrition and pest management, through participatory (producer-level and farmer-driven) approaches; encouraging
linkages among research and development experts as well as user organizations within and across regions for problem solving
and opportunity identification, and enabling producers (men and women) to participate in and have access to results of applied
research; and enhancing sustainable production and processing of crop, livestock, fishery, wood and non-wood forest products,
focusing on reducing differences between research results and actual productivity, notably through key initiatives in the
context of the SPFS and related follow-up mechanisms. Comparative advantages and partnerships As a cosponsor of the CGIAR
system and the host of its Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) secretariat
of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research, FAO plays a key role in helping to plan the direction of international and national
research in all areas of food and agriculture. The technical experience accumulated during years of supporting national research
and development efforts ensures that FAO has the breadth of experience and the skill mix required to assist countries in capturing
opportunities and removing constraints, particularly technological constraints, to intensified, sustainable and competitive
agricultural systems. Thus, FAO can help identify and focus research on the needs of men and women producers and processors,
and facilitate and guide research and development in this area. FAO will continue to cooperate closely with academia, CGIAR
and national research systems, other centres of excellence and other bilateral and multilateral development agencies. The
testing and implementation of development strategies, methods, appropriate techniques and standards require strategic alliances
with national and regional institutions and civil society, including the private sector. In this regard, FAO will continue
to seek support from traditional funding sources as well as through innovative modalities such as South-South cooperation
within the SPFS.
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