The future of agriculture: Agricultural knowledge for economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development

At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development held in South Africa, the World Bank (Washington, DC, USA) and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, Rome, Italy) announced that they would organize a global consultation process on agricultural science and technology (IAASTD, 2003). They showed remarkable foresight: when the International Assessment of Agriculture, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) final reports were approved in April 2008, they were released to media and governments already disturbed about biofuels, increasing food prices, food protests in developing countries, and a general concern about producing enough food to feed the world (IAASTD, 2008).Peer reviewe