Producing enough food for a rapidly growing population, and taking care of our planet are two of the world's biggest challenges.
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Launched in 2003, AGORA provides free or subsidised journal access to not-for-profit institutions in eligible countries. Once details are finalised, all institutions in countries with a GNP per capita under US$1,000 will be given access to participating literature. The journal collection focuses on agriculture and related sciences, and includes titles from major publishing houses. AGORA is an FAO initiative.
Click here for more details about registering.
African Conservation Telegraph is a thrice-yearly newsletter published free of charge by the Africa section of the US Society for Conservation Biology. The newsletter aims to provide news and information on conservation science in Africa.
This UN Development Programme initiative helps drought-prone countries prepare for extreme weather events and reduce anticipated negative impacts. The website includes succinct overviews of drought-risk in individual African countries, as well as a comprehensive links section pointing to relevant networks, research centres, regional organisations and other sources of information, often in developing countries.
The African Journal of Biotechnology is a peer-reviewed online journal that publishes research in food, agricultural and industrial applications of biochemistry, microbiology, genomics and proteomics.
All articles are free to access and readers can also sign up to free email alerts containing the table of contents for each new issue.
AJFAND is an academic journal — published quarterly — by the Rural Outreach Programme, a non-profit company based in Kenya. The journal's free-access website features peer-reviewed articles about poverty, food security, disease and agriculture in Africa. It also provides commentaries, short communications, book reviews, and relevant news and events. Students can submit work to the student section.
AMCOST provides a forum for formulating and implementing policies for science, technology and innovation issues that have an impact on African development. It was established by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the African Union in November 2003, and has since developed and adopted Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action.
AMCOST's website outlines ongoing projects in biodiversity, energy, water, material sciences, mathematics and space science technologies, among others. It also offers information on the activities and rationale behind both the African Panel on Biotechnology and the African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators Initiative.
AfricanCrops.Net — funded by the Rockefeller Foundations Biotechnology, Breeding and Seed Systems Programme and the Partnership to Fight Striga of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation — publishes a monthly newsletter with information on upcoming conferences, training programmes and funding opportunities. It also hosts a discussion forum where visitors can share experiences of issues such as crop improvement and molecular marker applications.
The website links to a wide range of documents and points to resources dedicated to specific African crops such as cassava, cowpea and sorghum. It also hosts an extensive collection of links to online databases, glossaries, bibliographies, search engines, genetic maps and statistics relating to African-focused biotechnology and plant breeding research.
AgBiotechNet — published by CABI, a leading international, not-for-profit publisher in applied life sciences — has news, reviews, abstracts of scientific literature, and links about agricultural biotechnology and biosafety for researchers and policy-makers worldwide. While much is available free of charge, paying subscribers access more information (a free 30-day trial is available).
Aliens is the newsletter of the Invasive Species Group of the World Conservation Union. An associated email listserver is dedicated to alien invasive species, with a focus on those that threaten biodiversity.
This award-winning website promotes the hotspots concept through the protection of 25 areas of the world that contain the largest number of species under the greatest threat. A colourful site that allows browsers to discover species that are threatened in different hotspots arond the world; compare the state of different hotspots and find out what is being done to conserve them by Conservation International, a US-based group that publishes the site and is doing most to publicise - and lobby - for more hotspots to be protected.
The Biosafety Information Centre, managed by
Third World Network, disseminates information, raises awareness and promotes research in biosafety, sustainable agriculture, indigenous knowledge and rights. It circulates regular electronic newsletters aimed at policymakers, regulators, scientists and civil society organisations in developing countries. It also publishes contributions by active researchers and reproduces articles from external media.
A service of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), BINAS monitors global developments in regulatory issues in biotechnology. The website contains up-to-date news information and a searchable database giving details of regulations, field trials and commercialisation of GM crops in different countries.
FAO-BioDeC is a database of agricultural biotechnologies being researched, developed or applied in developing countries. It does not provide quantitative information on research being carried out in international centres located in developing countries, or on the level of funding any individual technology receives. But it does give an overview of the stages of adoption of agricultural technologies in different regions that can be used to identify gaps in research or areas for potential collaboration.
Over 50 correspondents from 54 countries contribute to the database, with articles about individual countries' policy frameworks, research institutes and biosafety regulations.
The BIC website hopes to provide rational information about the applications of biotechnology, especially crop biotechnology, in a local context. The website is the result of a collaboration between ISAAA, Monash University Malaysia and the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre. The website aims to serve as a resource for policy-makers, industry players, the media and members of the public who want scientific information to guide their decision-making. The site is kept very up-to-date and brings together many useful web-based information sources.
Biotechterms.org, sponsored by Monsanto, is a searchable list of biotechnology definitions. The site covers technical, business and legal terms from biotechnology and related definitions from biology, biochemistry and chemistry. The glossary has been gathered from experts in the field, books, journals and industry periodicals. Terms are explained in simple language, using a lot of analogies throughout the text.
CABI is a not-for-profit, intergovernmental organisation specialising in agricultural and environmental research, publishing and communication. With over 40 different member countries, its scientific projects include finding ways to lower production costs while using ecological practices. CABI studies environmental impacts of invasive species and pests, and searches for natural ways of controlling them. CABI also finds solutions to agricultural problems caused by climate change, provides microbial services and advises on trade policy.
The Centre for International Ethnomedicinal Education and Research is nonprofit educational and research organisation that aims establish a focal point for the exchange of ethnomedicinal knowledge and an international network of ethnobotanical researchers. The website offers links to bibliographies, publications, research projects and events.
The CGVLibrary — run by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) — is a search engine for agricultural information. It has an easy-to-use interface for accessing documents and abstracts in all of the CGIAR centres' libraries, as well as 160 other databases. Subscribers also have access to an image library.
Checkbiotech is an Internet platform sponsored by the company Syngenta. The website aims to contribute to an open debate on agricultural biotechnology by providing up-to-date information from many different sources. The extensive collection of documents in the database gives an overview of ongoing discussions in agricultural biotechnology, and enjoys very frequent up-dates — multiple news stories are posted every day.
COMPAS is an international network for the enhancement of endogenous development. The Compas Magazine is published twice a year. Recent issues have discussed how biological and cultural diversity and the sustainable management of natural resources can be enhanced by building on indigenous knowledge systems and local leadership.
