15. Improve the social and economic performance of agricultural systems as a basis for sustainable rural and community livelihoods:
•     Improve the understanding of factors affecting social welfare and the vulnerability of farming communities at the local scale including institutions that govern access to and use of natural resources, systems of incentives and rewards and sources of conflict in rural communities.
•     Evaluate the range of goods and services deriving from ag­riculture and design economic instruments that promote an appropriate balance of private and public goods.
•     Assess the performance of farming systems at the farm, regional and national scales that accommodate the mul­tifunctional role of agriculture.

16. Determine research and policy changes that lead to improvement in the welfare of migrant and/or tempo­rary farm labor. Appropriate measures could help ensure the availability of qualified labor for agriculture while reducing inequalities. Much agricultural labor is done by immigrants with precarious legal status in NAE. Changes to immigration law may be required to improve the situation of farm labor.

17. Respond to gender related issues in agricultural research and the agricultural economy. These include equity considerations in research and educational institu­tions; farm ownership and gendered work roles among farm families and hired labor; problems posed by family frag­mentation among migrant workers.

AKST Options for Strengthening Human Capital and Organizational Arrangements

18. Strengthen human capital and reconfigure organi­zational arrangements to facilitate the development, dissemination and wider use of AKST.
•     Strengthen   interactive   knowledge   networks   involv­ing multiple and more diverse stakeholders among the research, education and extension components of the AKST systems. These cooperative efforts could be en­couraged by governments.
•     Improve AKST processes for involving, informing and empowering stakeholders, in particular women and oth­ers whose interests have previously been inadequately addressed. New stakeholder involvement mechanisms are advisable for developing and using methods to es­tablish standards of legitimacy for inclusion in these processes.
•     Develop and utilize new skills and learning opportuni­ties for existing and future AKST personnel and their various clients so that they can understand and function more comfortably in the context of the wider multifunc­tional vision of agriculture.
•     Enhance  meaningful  interdisciplinary  research,  edu­cational programs  and  extension/development work without  compromising  disciplinary  excellence  while identifying   and   surmounting   systemic   barriers   to interdisciplinarity.
•     Strengthen links between research and higher education to promote lifelong learning and the creation of a learn­ing society.

•     Strengthen information and knowledge-based systems to enable a rapid, bi-directional flow and utilization of information and knowledge between the wider agricul­tural sector and the AKST system.
•     Promote appropriate organizational arrangements that facilitate the development of human capital within the AKST system.

19. Devise, evaluate and institute new patterns of ownership and employment. This would promote effec­tive participation, equity, development of human capital, cultural change and ongoing education and training.

20. Recognize more fully the important role that tradi­tional and indigenous knowledge plays in agriculture and in the culture and welfare of particular people.
Respectful interaction with indigenous peoples and tradi­tional practitioners and serious consideration of the value of their knowledge, experience and techniques can contribute broadly to sustainable and equitable agriculture and the de­velopment of new AKST.

21. Reinforce partnerships between NAE and other re­gions that empower poor and disadvantaged people and organizations. Strengthening interactive knowledge networks and integrated trans-disciplinary research and ed­ucational programs facilitates the development of working relationships among AKST organizations worldwide.

22. Increase NAE receptivity to innovative proposals from other regions for mutual capacity building. Har­ness human and organizational capacities, especially focus­ing on the capacity to build capacity. Regional and global forums can facilitate this networking and promote enhanced contributions to the global knowledge economy by AKST organizations.

AKST Options for Improving Policy and Governance

23. Support coherent policy frameworks for agricul­tural and rural development and ensure that relevant government departments collaborate with each other and the private sector and NGO actors in their devel­opment. Coordination between government functions can facilitate a balance among the goals of feeding an expanding population, using natural resources efficiently and sustain-ably and promoting economic development and cultural uses at the local, regional and global levels.

24. Strengthen connections among all actors within the food chain and better balance power among all actors in food chain governance. This requires policies to strengthen business and marketing skills among produc­ers, build mutually beneficial relationships among all mem­bers of the food supply chain and educate consumers about farming and food products and systems.

25. Develop policy instruments to internalize current environmental and social externalities of agricultural production and reward the provision of agroenviron-mental services. Examples include financial instruments