Intoduction~ Agricultural Biodiversity and Biotechnology:

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the book, Agricultural Biodiversity and Biotechnology: Economic Issues and Framework for Analysis. The book presents the results of three years of collaborative research in which the authors aimed to develop a coherent and economics-based approach to policy-making in the management of biotechnology and biodiversity. Namely, it explores the economics of both the conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the adoption of molecular biotechnology, the economics of whether or not their respective policies should be linked, and, if so, how. This book begins with a section containing chapters overviewing the global setting in which the management of biotechnology and biodiversity are taking place, including an analysis of major socioeconomic trends and institutional developments and their potential impacts. The next section provides an analysis of the current and potential value of biotechnology in developing countries and the types of institutional reforms needed to realize this potential. The book is then concluded with a summary chapter that integrates the policy implications drawn from earlier sections on biodiversity and biotechnology in the context of development.