Description:
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 policymaking 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.