This important volume advocates a pro-poor growth strategy where the poor also participate directly as subjects in development. The contributors maintain that a critical element in this process is social mobilization where organizations of the poor work in partnership with a restructured state and a socially responsible private sector. They see a new political space for this in the current attempts at decentralization which are also aimed at developing power to the people. To illustrate these possibilities, the volume presents six case studies from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. Together they show how new social movements and organizations of the poor are converging with efforts to decentralize and to share power at the local level. This volume breaks new ground by investigating in depth the three important agendas of governance, decentralization/devolution, and poverty eradication, and by highlighting how they can be coordinated to fashion a genuinely pro-poor macro--micro development strategy.

The IAASTD was initiated by the World Bank and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, with support from the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and other sponsors. Its goal is to analyze the potential of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (AKST) for reducing hunger and poverty, improving rural livelihoods, and working toward environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable development. The results of the project are contained in seven reports: a Global Report, five regional Sub-Global Assessments, and a Synthesis Report. The Global Report gives the key findings of the Assessment, and the five Sub-Global Assessments address the most urgent regional challenges. The volumes present options for action-all supported by easy-to-understand graphs, charts, and tables. All of the reports have been extensively peer-reviewed by governments and experts and all have been approved by a panel of participating governments. The Sub-Global Assessments all utilize a similar and consistent framework: examining and reporting on the impacts of AKST on hunger, poverty, nutrition, human health, and environmental/social sustainability. The five Sub-Global Assessments cover the following regions: Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) East and South Asia and the Pacific (ESAP) Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) North America and Europe (NAE) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)