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Abstract
This paper presents the main feature of a recent major study by FAO, hereafter
referred to as AT 2000. After outlining the scope and methodology of the study,
this paper gives summary results and concludes with a brief identification of the
salient aspects of the strategies suggested by the analysis.
A purpose of the study was to provide governments and the United Nations with
quantified perspectives of world and country group demand for, and production
and trade of food and agricultural commodities, including implications for such
areas as nutrition, investment, assistance, and research. Pre-publication results
of the study were the major source for the food and agricultural component of
the UN International Development Strategy (IDS) adopted in 1980. A second
purpose was to provide FAO, its member governments, and other qualified users
with a detailed quantification on a common pattern of possible alternative paths
of change in the agricultural sector of 90 individual developing countries.
The analytical instrument built for the study--the family of models, data bank,
and analytical procedures--will be kept in working order. The results of the study
for each of the 90 developing countries have been sent to the countries
concerned, and, at the time of writing, comments on these results as well as
agreement to release the individual country data without limitation are awaited.