Networking Biotechnology Solutions with Developing Countries: the Mission and Strategy of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications

At the dawn of the 21st Century, over 800 million people — 200 million of whom are children — are chronically undernourished in the developing world. Millions more suffer debilitating diseases related to insufficient or contaminated food. Everyday, one out of five people in developing countries does not get enough food. Paradoxically, over 60% of the world’s poor live in the largely agrarian countries of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where respectively 65% and 79% of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihood. Land of the poor is often marginal, water scarce, and ecosystems fragile. There are 6 billion people alive today, and 1.3 billion of them live on less than US$1 of income per day.