Key Messages

1. Following WWII rapid advances in the understand­ing of plant and animal biology fueled productivity increases and provided new tools for identifying and addressing agricultural problems. In this period, agri­cultural production and productivity increased signifi­cantly, especially in Western Europe and North Amer­ica, but more slowly in Central and Eastern Europe. The increased productivity of agriculture was sup­ported by technological development and food supply policies.
     An increased range of technologies and tools has been available to agriculture primarily through advances in AKST. Farmers have accessed AKST to enhance crop and livestock productivity and quality. Efficient knowledge transfer sys­tems developed in the governmental and private sectors have facilitated the dissemination of these new tools. Information technology (IT) has revolutionized AKST as well as food manufacturing, transportation and distribution and has al­lowed efficient dissemination of AKST.
     The broad range of new technologies, some of them controversial, has had and is having significant impacts for all NAE societies. The impacts of scientific and technological advances have been and are being felt in both conventional plant and animal breeding programs and those involving biotechnology. Biotechnology, including genetic engineer­ing, has greatly expanded the speed at which traits critical to agriculture can be identified and manipulated.
     Crop production has increased considerably over the last 50 years in the NAE particularly in output per unit area. These increases have been due to improved soil man­agement, increased fertilizer use, including new synthetic fertilizers, greater technological sophistication and scale of agricultural mechanization and development of agrochemi-cals for pest and disease control. Wider adoption of irriga­tion coupled with the conversion of pasture to permanent cultivation has contributed to production increases. The development of plant breeding technologies, including hy­brids and genetically engineered varieties, have changed the way most North American and Western European farmers obtain seed to annual purchases rather than saving seed. Uptake of genetic engineered crops has differed markedly in the region. They form a part of just a few cropping systems (predominantly soybeans and cotton, but also maize and canola) in North America.
     Overall, livestock productivity and output in NAE has increased since 1945 with beef, pig meat and milk produc­tion almost doubling and a four-fold increase in numbers of poultry. This has been driven by increasing demand from a growing and wealthier population and by production-ori­ented policies. Increases in productivity are due to animal breeding developments, intensive rearing systems, antibiotic use and high-yielding pastures. Technical advances in fish breeding and rearing have led to considerable increases in production in both saltwater and freshwater fish farming.
     NAE is the only region where there has been an in­crease in forest area since the 1960s, partly as a result of increased plantations and partly resulting from re-growth following abandonment of agricultural land. Demand for forest products in NAE has increased dramatically because

of a larger and wealthier population. New management and processing technologies have been introduced to meet these demands resulting in increased efficiency and better access to remote areas. The environmental quality of forests in NAE has declined somewhat over the last 50 years. This has been caused by a variety of factors, including a significant increase in forest fires across NAE; it is a complex issue still not fully understood.
     In North America and Western Europe, agricultural policies were adopted and implemented to improve farm in­come, to promote use of technology and to sustain produc­tivity. In terms of increasing productivity and total produc­tion, these policies were largely successful. They also helped improve average farm income, ameliorated poverty in rural populations in some regions and contributed to overall eco­nomic development.

2. These increases in total food production addressed much of the problem of hunger and food shortages across NAE. The increase in food supply in NAE has progressively led to a greater availability of food both in quantity and variety and more recently to an over­abundance of calories. Despite the absolute quantity of calories available, poor households across the re­gion often do not have access to an adequate nutri­tious diet.
     The increase in agricultural productivity has led to a decrease in real prices of agricultural products in North America and Western Europe over the last 40 years. This situation has led to more affordable food and ensured food security for the majority of the NAE population. Never­theless, increased food availability and changes in human behavior and lifestyle have favored the development of nutrition-related chronic diseases. Over the last 15 years, these chronic diseases, including obesity, have had a heavy economic, public and social cost throughout the region.
     In Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, the degree of food self-sufficiency increased from the late 1940s until the 1970s; however, in the USSR, food and agricultural short­ages from the 1960s to the 1980s led to increased agricul­tural imports. In the 1990s a transition period occurred in Central and Eastern European countries characterized by falling output. Household allotments have been particularly important in the former Soviet Union and now Russia, for food security where small household producers account for 25-50% of agricultural output (e.g., potatoes, key vegeta­bles and meats).

3. Knowledge systems used for breeding new plant and animal varieties and for agrochemicals have been partially protected as intellectual property and increas­ingly privatized. The emergence of technologies protected as intellectual property has created synergies that have fa­vored industry consolidation and has facilitated the creation of NAE-based transnational agribusinesses. These transna­tionals now account for almost a third of commercial seeds worldwide and a significant share of livestock genetics.

4. The structure of the food system has changed with time in NAE. The agricultural and food system has be­come more vertically integrated from agricultural in-