•   Expanding use of local and formal AKST (e.g., con­ventional breeding, participatory decentralized breed­ing and biotechnology) to develop and deploy suitable cultivars (millets, pulses, oilseeds, etc.) and better ag­ronomic practices that can be adapted to site-specific conditions [CWANA; ESAP; SSA].
•   Breeding and improvement work on some minor crops in different subregions.
•   Improving soil, water and nutrient management and conservation of biodiversity  [CWANA; ESAP; LAC; SSA; SR Part II: NRM] and improving access to re­sources (e.g., nutrients and water) [SSA].
•   Increasing small-scale diversification by enhancing the role of animal production systems, aquaculture, agro-forestry with indigenous fruits and nuts, and insects [CWANA; ESAP; SSA; Part II: NRM].
•   Enabling an evaluation culture within AKST with ap­propriate incentives to assess the past and potential impacts of technological and institutional changes de­ployed in the field.

Important to consider when shifting from food crops to biofuels on the basis of economic feasibility is attention to the impact of large areas devoted to such crops on food security and the environment [ESAP, LAC, SSA; SR Part II: Bioenergy].
     Some of the AKST policy options for addressing food security include:
•   Mobilizing the productive capacity and sustainability of rain fed areas;
•   Addressing price fluctuations and reductions through market instruments that enable shifting risk away from vulnerable small-scale producers;
•   Reducing transaction costs  and creating special ac­cess rights in regional and global trade for millions of   small-scale   producers;   social   security   nets   for women and highly vulnerable indigenous and tribal

populations to ensure access to affordable and safe food;
•   Strengthening local markets by improving the connec­tion between rural areas and cities; food producers and urban food consumers; and urban and peri-urban agri­culture producers and consumers [LAC]; and
•   Improving food safety and quality through the enforce­ment of enhanced regulatory and monitoring regimes.

Public sector research has yet to offer a range of viable ru­ral management and agronomic practices for crop and live­stock systems that are appropriate for water-restrained dry lands and poor farmers [CWANA; ESAP; SSA]. Private sec­tor research, concentrated on internationally traded crops, is less likely to find such projects profitable, at least in the immediate future. Yet, public funding for such research in these crops and regions will be necessary if we are to address the needed changes in organizational and institutional ar­rangements to respond to the constraints imposed by poor management systems. Such investments will likely assist in limiting natural resource degradation and environmental deterioration, and contribute to decreasing the poverty and pockets of hunger that currently persist in the midst of pros­perity [ESAP].

Environment
•   Knowledge,  science and  technology  (local and for­mal). "Business as usual" is not an option if we want to achieve environmental sustainability. To help realize this goal, AKST systems must enhance sustainability while maintaining productivity in ways that protect the natural resource base and ecological provisioning of agricultural systems. Options include: Improving en­ergy, water and land use efficiency through the use of local and formal knowledge to develop and adapt site-specific technologies that can help maintain, create or restore soils, increase water use efficiency and reduce