ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences wish to thank the staff members in both organizations, and those in the World Bank, for their contribution to the success of this conference, and to the publication of this book.

We are particularly indebted to Nina Fedoroff and Joel Cohen who worked with us in developing the conceptual framework of the conference. We are grateful to the distinguished speakers, session chairs, discussants, rapporteurs, resource persons, and all of the participants who came from around the world. Their input has ensured a high level of discourse and has helped to provide useful guidance on complex issues. The authors of individual papers have also assisted greatly by their additional contributions for this publication.

We thank also Manuel Lantin of the CGIAR Secretariat who served as Conference Coordinator and Gabrielle Persley of the World Bank, the Conference Rapporteur. Their joint efforts have resulted in this informative and timely publication.

We are especially grateful to the staff of the conference secretariat who handled the complex logistics for the conference, particularly Frona Hall, Danielle Lucca, Feroza F. Vatcha, and Waltraud Wightman. Shirley Geer, CGIAR Senior Information Officer, provided valuable assistance in finalizing this volume. Staci Daddona designed the cover and organized the printing, and Gaudencio Dizon provided skilled and cheerful assistance with the desktopping of this volume.