In the previous ten chapters the author has taken a critical look at what is often termed ‘sustainable development’ and has argued continuously for a clear definition of terms of both those words, not only as concepts but also in their application to many different circumstances, from food production and food security to industrial biotechnologies. Too often terms are ill-defined and consequently the objectives are open to misunderstanding. Too often the research is focused on a first, part-way objective – for example, the breeding of higher yielding rice genotypes – and the attainment of the real objective, the adoption of new technologies by small farmers, is either unplanned or else taken for granted. This book has laid heavy emphasis on the importance of a systems approach that rejects any top-down practices and involves the intelligent participation of the beneficiaries from the outset.

This chapter moves from setting out such argumentation to offering a number of examples of where development has been planned on a systems basis, and where the outcome has been sustainable and beneficial. The examples are drawn from Latin America, Africa and Asia, and the International Development Research Centre has been supportive in all but one of them. The exception is the Canada-Mysore Project, where men and women from 45 nations have had training in food technologies; it was launched a decade before IDRC's own birth. The first example of IDRC initiatives concerns its advocacy of farming systems research, to take results from the experimental plots of the international (or national) research institutes to sustainable application in ordinary farmers' fields.