After three days of intense debates, the Tropentag did not arrive at a final destination but at a road sign pointing in several directions. Figuratively speaking, Jack Heinemann, Professor for Genetics and Gene Ecology at the University of Canterbury, NZ, and author of the book “Hope not Hype: The Future of Agriculture”, had pulled the road sign out of the ground and was waving it in front of the audience that had gathered for a last time in the Scherrer Auditorium of ETH Zurich. Mr. Heinemann spoke about the findings and opportunities envisioned by the IAASTD report to which he contributed as co-author. Jack Heinemann presenting the IAASTD The acronym IAASTD stands for “International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development”. But wait, where's the K for Knowledge? It is not only missing in the report's acronym, but one receives the impression that it is also often absent when development agencies are starting their work. While Science and Technology figure prominently when World Hunger and Poverty should be cured, Local Knowledge – and that's what the K is all about – seldom finds its place. The IAASTD-without-K-mentioned-but-with-K-meant-report is a plea for taking local knowledge into account when it comes to agricultural and rural development. Actually not only knowledge, but knowledges – as there is not one agriculture, but a multitude of agricultures. Thus, the road sign pointing in several directions is more than a metaphor for the question which way to choose. It's actually an instruction to follow several roads, not to choose just one direction at the x-roads, but venturing down all the paths offered. Mr. Heinemann stressed that following the established path of agricultural development won't work. Business as usual is not an option. That means, we should phase out the established Northern model of agricultural production relying on large amounts of external inputs like chemicals, artificial fertilizers and fossil fuels. In addition we should also change our Northern unsustainable lifestyle characterized by extensive meat consumption and energy hunger that makes us burning food stuffs like maize other people on this planet would love to eat. In this regard, Mr. Heinemann made clear that the IAASTD report was conceived as a wake up call to “those who already have enough”. Whereas production and consumption as usual is not an option, research as usual is also not viable. Putting his fingers on the hot potato of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), Heinemann gave a clear statement: Conventional breeding is much more efficient than biotechnological creation of transgenetic plants. “IAASTD did not find evidence of a general, sustained or reliable increase in yield from GM crops over the last 14 years”, he explained. Against this, conventional breeding created major successes. For example, some new varieties of rice obtained via breeding contain considerably higher levels of micro nutrients than the much lauded “Golden Rice”. However, biotechnology research is attracting large sums of funding, thus drying up money for conventional breeding research. Moreover, there is the problem of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). Many GMOs are property of private seed companies like Monsanto, DuPont or Syngenta (just to mention the three largest seed companies worldwide with regard to seeds sold). When farmers use GMOs of corporate origin they have to pay for it – up to this point it's simple economics. However, corporate biotechnologies are increasingly deffusing with non-commercial public goods. For instance, scientists of the agricultural research institutes connected to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which is the largest organization active in the field of agricultural research for development, are using growing quantities of corporate owned technologies – in many cases without even knowing it. When theses public goods of CGIAR institutes come under the WTO regulatory regime (because a given country joins the World Trade Organization) the seed companies are allowed to demand payment from the farmers using the CGIAR “public goods” as they also contain corporate property. Showing a way towards sustainable and equitable development? Jack Heinemann on the IAASTD In order to get away from business as usual, Mr. Heinemann made six proposals for the future: First and foremost, to promote agricultural diversity by acknowledging and supporting the missing Ks. Second, to convert high input industrial farming to sustainable high output farming, while third, convert low output subsistence farming to sustainable high output farming as well. Fourth, to use appropriate technologies to usher in these transformations and, six, to create new technologies in dialogue with the myriad of farmers of the world. Six, to eliminate distorting subsidies in the North that destroy local markets in the South. Referring to the title of this year's Tropentag, Mr. Heinemann demanded one “contribution from Europe” that is prerequisite for the future of agricultural and rural development in the developing world: A honest and serious discussion with the stakeholders in developing countries on how to design an action plan for feeding the world in 2050. This said, the road sign Jack Heinemann was holding up at the end of the Tropentag 2010 in Zurich should also be understood as a warning sign, a sign for change. “IAASTD is a story of hope”, he concluded, showing possible pathways to go from where we're standing right now.