farmers and other stakeholders along the food chain are involved with researchers in the selection of varieties from formal and farmer-based collections and trials, to determine which are best suited to their own agroeco-systems' needs, uses and preferences, and which should go ahead for finishing, wider release and dissemination. The information gathered may in turn be fed back into formal-led breeding programs.
Pesticide A toxic chemical or biological product that kills organisms (e.g., insecticides, fungicides, weedicides, ro-denticides).
Poverty There are many definitions of poverty. Absolute Poverty: According to a UN declaration that re­sulted from the World Summit on Social Development in 1995, absolute poverty is a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on in­come but also on access to services. Dimensions of Poverty: The individual and social charac­teristics of poverty such as lack of access to health and education, powerlessness or lack of dignity. Such aspects of deprivation experienced by the individual or group are not captured by measures of income or expenditure. Extreme Poverty: Persons who fall below the defined poverty line of US$1 income per day. The measure is converted into local currencies using purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates. Other definitions of this concept have identified minimum subsistence requirements, the denial of basic human rights or the experience of exclusion. Poverty Line: A minimum requirement of welfare, usu­ally defined in relation to income or expenditure, used to identify the poor. Individuals or households with in­comes or expenditure below the poverty line are poor. Those with incomes or expenditure equal to or above the line are not poor. It is common practice to draw more than one poverty line to distinguish different categories of poor, for example, the extreme poor.
Private Rate of Return The gain in net revenue to the private firm/business divided by the cost of an investment ex­pressed in percentage.
Processes A   series   of   actions,   motions,   occurrences,   a method, mode, or operation, whereby a result or effect is produced.
Production Technology All methods that farmers, market agents and consumers use to cultivate, harvest, store, process, handle, transport and prepare food crops, cash crops, livestock, etc., for consumption.
Protected Area A geographically defined area which is desig­nated or regulated and managed to achieve specific con­servation objectives as defined by society.
Public Goods A good or service in which the benefit received by any one party does not diminish the availability of the benefits to others, and/or where access to the good cannot be restricted. Public goods have the properties of non-rivalry in consumption and non-excludability.
Public R&D Investment Includes R&D investments done by government agencies, nonprofit institutions, and higher-education agencies. It excludes the private for-profit en­terprises.
Research and Development (R&D) Organizational strategies

and methods used by research and extension program to conduct their work including scientific procedures, orga­nizational modes, institutional strategies, interdisciplin­ary team research, etc.
Scenario A plausible and often simplified description of how the future may develop based on explicit and coherent and internally consistent set of assumptions about key driving forces (e.g., rate of technology change, prices) and relationships. Scenarios are neither predictions nor projections and sometimes may be based on a "narra­tive storyline". Scenarios may be derived from projec­tions but are often based on additional information from other sources.
Science, Technology and Innovation Includes all forms of useful knowledge (codified and tacit) derived from di­verse branches of learning and practice, ranging from ba­sic scientific research to engineering to local knowledge. It also includes the policies used to promote scientific advance, technology development, and the commercial­ization of products, as well as the associated institutional innovations. Science refers to both basic and applied sci­ences. Technology refers to the application of science, en­gineering, and other fields, such as medicine. Innovation includes all of the processes, including business activities that bring a technology to market.
Shifting Cultivation Found mainly in the tropics, especially in humid and subhumid regions. There are different kinds; for example, in some cases a settlement is permanent, but certain fields are fallowed and cropped alternately ('ro­tational agriculture'). In other cases, new land is cleared when the old is no longer productive.
Slash and Burn Agriculture A pattern of agriculture in which existing vegetation is cleared and burned to provide space and nutrients for cropping.
Social Rate of Return The gain to society of a project or in­vestment in net revenue divided by cost of the investment, expressed by percentage.
Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) A combination of ap­propriate technology and successful approach. Technolo­gies promote the sustainable use of agricultural soils by minimizing soil erosion, maintaining and/or enhancing soil properties, managing water, and controlling tem­perature. Approaches explain the ways and means which are used to realize SWC in a given ecological and socio-economic environment.
Soil Erosion The detachment and movement of soil from the land surface by wind and water in conditions influenced by human activities.
Soil Function Any service, role, or task that a soil performs, especially:   (a)   sustaining  biological  activity,  diversity, and productivity; (b) regulating and partitioning water and solute flow; (c) filtering, buffering, degrading, and detoxifying potential pollutants; (d) storing and cycling nutrients; (e) providing support for buildings and other structures and to protect archaeological treasures.
Staple Food (Crops) Food that is eaten as daily diet.
Soil Quality The capacity of a specific kind of soil to function, within natural or managed ecosystem boundaries, to sus­tain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and support human health and habitation. In short, the capacity of the soil to function.