pends in large measure on their capacity to monitor the risks and opportunities posed by their external context and their capacity to communicate with their users and obtain their feedback.

          Such a legal framework would allow for a responsive and flexible management style, essential for achieving greater efficiency—including salary levels and promotion system for scientific personnel, flexible recruitment policies, links and associations with the private sector, royalty contracts, and/or a share in income derived from intellectual property. Examples of this trend in the region include Chile’s INIA and the Colombian Agrarian Research Corporation (CORPOICA) (Piñeiro, 2003). In response to this problem, Mexican lawmakers took the initiative of creating a new definition for public research institutions.

          There has also been a growing tendency among NARIs to include representatives of leading private sector trade organizations on their governing bodies at the national and regional levels. Argentina’s INTA has enjoyed a long history in this regard; half the members of its Board of Directors have been representatives of producers’ organizations since it was established in 1956. Among the more interesting examples of this trend one can mention Uruguay’s INIA, CORPOICA, and INIFAP. However, sometimes the composition or actions of the governing body could be improved, as in the case of INIFAP in Mexico (Piñeiro et al. 2003).

2.1.5 The evolution of the AKST system
Technology generation in LAC dates back to pre-Columbian times. Notable contributions have been made throughout history, for instance in the Andes and the Amazon basin. 14 Towards the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, the AKST system was
institutionalized; that is to say, the first stage of organized agricultural research began in universities or specialized national institutions sponsored by the state. In those early stages, these institutions were organized into departments, that is, by branches of knowledge. Their researchers interacted very little with each other, and their sphere of action was the Experimental Station.

          In the second half of the twentieth century, farming system research was incorporated, forcing researchers to interact directly with the rural milieu. From the relatively simple environment of the Experimental Station, the move was made to the more complex and multifaceted context of farms and production systems, leading to an acknowledgement of the need for interdisciplinary work. By working with “cooperant producers”, researchers adopted an informal but highly effective role as extension workers that were

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¹⁴ Among other significant innovations that have been documented as part of Inca civilization, one can mention drainage systems, as well as anthropic soils and other recent archaeological findings in the greater Amazonian basin. The diversity of genetic resources to be found in Peru is an achievement of its indigenous peoples who, over at least 10,000 years, domesticated native plants, selected them, and adapted them to ecological niches of varying altitudes. Thanks to this, and to the domestication of various species of fauna, Peru is one of the richest world centers of genetic resources, having domesticated 182 species of plants and five species of animals.

broadly appreciated by producers. Some LAC countries have pursued such a researcher/extension-worker strategy as an effective means for the transfer of technology.15

          In many LAC countries, however, extension services have not been integrated with agricultural research efforts, often separate agencies of Agriculture Ministries. The question of how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of technical outreach and technology transfer has been, and remains, a highly significant and relevant issue.

          Some LAC countries have pursued a participatory strategy involving farmers and extension researchers as an effective means of experimentation and transfer of technology (Piñeiro et al. 2003). These participatory systems have not only become important in technology transfer and training projects with low-income farmers and women but are also being used for such purposes as the genetic improvement of plants or the characterization and management of natural resources (Araya and Hernández, 2006).

          One objective of participatory research programs is to take advantage of farmers’ knowledge, which obviously implies identifying their needs, their preferences, and the reasons for what they do. Although society recognizes farmers’ role in managing and improving germplasm, there is little agreement on how to appraise the role of farming communities— traditional, indigenous and agroecological systems, not conventional agricultural systems—and their potential contribution to formal systems of genetic improvement.

          Technical cooperation can only grow and develop if potential barriers of mistrust are discussed and addressed ethically. The key issue here is to ensure that plant breeders— both producers and scientists—have access to germplasm.

          In some LAC countries, we have witnessed over the past two decades a trend toward taking advantage more integrally of existing research institutions, mostly state-sponsored, and considering them part of a research and technology transfer system whose challenge is to promote a networking synergy based on interinstitutional complementarity.

          The design, establishment, and operation of more efficient and effective AKST systems is at different stages of development in LAC countries, going from rhetorical discourse to efforts aimed at responding to specific demands from society. In the institutional discourse, it is often said that institutions have evolved from a supply-driven model to a demand-driven model. However, the weakness of AKST systems in most LAC countries has limited their capacity to develop interinstitutional links, as reflected in a limited number of partnership-based projects.

          A new current of thought proposes that the greatest challenge is to shift from existing AKST systems to Participatory Innovation and Development (PID) systems that focus on specific production chains or commodities. Another conception, wider and more inclusive, involves the application of such systems to watersheds as the natural spaces or territories in which one or more production chains op-
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¹⁵ For instance, in Mexico, INIFAP formally established Cattle Ranchers Groups for Technology Validation and Transfer, with initially promising results (Piñeiro et al. 2003), as well as Experimental Farmers for vegetable production. In both cases, small-scale producers were targetted.