The increasing emphasis on Natural Resource (NR) and environmental issues in agricultural research is likely to affect, in varying degrees, the whole range of ISNAR's activities. An overarching challenge may be to convince NARSs that achievement of sustainable agricultural systems requires that NR and environmental research be a key component to be considered in their programs. Many NARSs remain unconvinced that concern about NR and environmental issues is anything more than a rich-country

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... sion that they cannot afford. They are right not to be stampeded by apocalyptic visions of environmental destruction, and ISNAR should make clear it does not share this vision. What is needed is a balanced argument that NR and environmental issues require NARSs' steady attention, just as other resource management issues do. To be persuasive with NARSs, and credible with its sister institutions in the CGIAR system, ISNAR will need to strengthen its analytic capacity in NR and environmental economics. The most direct way to do this would be to add an economist with these skills to its staff. An alternative, probably less effective, would be to use consultants on an as-needed basis. ISNAR can help NARSs in their critically important task of controlling the agricultural research agenda with respect to NR and environmental issues. A major form of such help would be to impress upon NARSs the importance of competent estimates of the NR and environmental consequences of alternative NRM (Natural Resource Management) practices and commodity technologies. Otherwise those with a vested interest in promoting exaggeratedly negative estimates of the consequences may dominate research strategy in this field. ISNAR's sister institutions in the CGIAR should be an important source of assistance to NARSs in dealing with NR and environmental issues. Some of these institutions have long included such issues on their research agenda, and now virtually all of them are giving the issues increased attention. The institutions, have, thus accumulated [...]