also due to a greater role by local and international NGOs and producers’ associations themselves.

          There has been a revaluation of farmers’ own knowledge of agroecosystems and production systems better suited to local conditions. This has coincided with agroecological studies that examine comprehensively the complexity of these systems from a scientific perspective.

          Our understanding of the interfaces between local technological knowledge systems and the scientific-technical system has improved with experiences in cooperation or joint experimentation. Studies have begun on both the constructive and negative interactions between formal and informal networks for the dissemination of agricultural knowledge.

          Formal research networks are beginning to transcend the national sphere through joint efforts at the international level, although this remains incipient.

          The development of such interactions differs greatly, especially between relatively small countries and larger ones where the size of the agricultural sector itself, and public and private investment, have made it possible to establish institutions with more significant human and financial resources and their work has developed on a larger scale and with a more long-term projection, as in the case of Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela.

          In Central America, by contrast, the economic problems and policies of the 1980s, together with structural adjustment and state reform, led to a weakening of public agricultural research institutions and their links with international organizations and local universities, where a good part of formal agricultural and livestock studies continued to be carried out. Some undergraduate and postgraduate education centers with international projection, however, continued to promote concerted research efforts and served to link researchers within and outside their respective countries—such as the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), the Zamorano Pan- American Agricultural School, in Honduras, and the Escuela Agricola de la Region del Tropico Humedo (EARTH University).

          At the same time, the “Farmer to Farmer” movement and analogous experiences supported by producers’ organizations and non-governmental cooperation agencies encouraged smallholder (campesino) experimentation, reconfigured the relations between technicians, scientists and farmers, and promoted alternative technological approaches in pursuit of a greater agroecological and social sustainability.

          In the 1990s, efforts began to develop more participatory relations between public and private stakeholders engaged in producing and transferring technological knowledge. Such efforts involved exploring more participatory forms of research and extension, setting agendas through consultations and negotiations, and testing different forms of participation by farmers and their organizations in the various phases of the research process as well as in the assessment and dissemination of results. Different positions have been taken on the effectiveness of these activities, albeit at a very preliminary stage. But it is clear that consensus mechanisms are required in public-private agricultural and livestock research that may take a variety of forms and follow different paths.

2.1.7 Society’s perception of AKST systems
The public perception of science and technology may be defined as a set of factors that have to do with the general public’s understanding, knowledge, and attitudes towards scientific and technological activities (Albornoz et al., 2003). It is important to note that society has a positive perception of science in general, and technology in particular. This attitude is associated with the notions of modernity that prevailed over recent decades. However, negative views of technology, usually associated with concerns over environmental and social crises, also exist. (Albornoz et al., 2003; Piñeiro et al., 2003; Casanovas, 2006).

          The lack of response to environmental problems linked to agricultural production techniques—like the contamination of water, soil and food with agrochemicals, the loss of biodiversity, and the clear-cutting of forests to expand the agricultural frontier—has often provoked determinist postures among certain sectors of society, especially social movements and NGOs linked to the rural sector. Much of the debate around these issues is based on a lack of information, or incomplete or biased information. This underscores the importance of promoting an effective liaison with the mass media (Albornoz et al., 2003).

           A greater participation by society in the social oversight of AKST system institutions, both in terms of their work agenda and their performance, is also needed—among other reasons, to provide moral and political support through “positive external political pressure” on AKST system institutions, as well as on the Government itself. (SECYT, 1997; Polino et al., 2003) (Box 2-3.)

2.2 Research Approach, Agenda, and Processes
2.2.1 The AKST system agenda
From 1945 onwards, the AKST system agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) had a strong biological orientation and was driven by agricultural export activities based on the premises of modernization and import substitution (Dixon and Gibbob, 2001; Ballarin, 2002; Kalmanovitz and López, 2006; Méndez, 2006). These lent special weight to economies of scale.

          The current agenda and processes for generating knowledge and technological innovation in AKST institutions in LAC have become more diverse and complex. Nowadays, AKST system institutions are expected to address issues related to all the links in the agricultural production chain.

           At the national level, AKST institutions face growing challenges in their efforts to address a wide range of diverse research agendas. These are aimed at generating:
1. Technological innovations for specific production systems of strategic interest to a particular country and/or watershed;
2. Innovations to explore and develop new agricultural products with high export value;
3. Innovations aimed at benefiting the poor and designed to meet their needs.

The design, application and financing of some of these research agendas has been, is, and will remain the responsibility of the state, since the goal is to generate public goods