It is necessary to integrate field data relevant to policy with a global overview with up-to-date information for synthesis into scenarios and a vision of how future research and development in agriculture can best help those who are most needy and have little access to productive resources. The overall task is a huge challenge for policy-makers and the agricultural research establishment. It is also of concern in teaching agricultural students to be able to respond to future challenges. This publication is an attempt to stimulate discussion on future options of research policy, suggesting changes of agricultural R&D for societal development in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals.

Global Agriculture and Revisited Resource-poor Farmers; Agricultural Development towards Modernization; Process of Adoption of Agricultural Innovations, Changes of Cultural Practices and Technical; Change among Revisited Resource-poor Farmers over almost Four Decades; Global Trends -Threats or Challenges to Future Food Security and Food Safety; Globalization and Agribusiness; Global Food Supply; The Challenge; Towards an Agricultural Vision; Agricultural Technology and Trends in Agricultural Research; Agricultural Research at the Crossroads -Reflections on Future R&D; International Agricultural Research through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE); Some Issues in University Teaching and Future Role of Agricultural Universities; Development Assistance and Science Aid to Agricultural R&D; Annexes; Glossary; Acronyms and Abbreviations; The Millennium Development Goals; Major International Conferences and Conventions of Relevance to Poverty Eradication and Agriculture; Some Highlights of Impact, Research and Policy Orientation by CGIAR Institutes and ICIPE in the Mid-1970s and the Early 2000s; References