| Summary: | In the past decade, the interplay among the economy, society, the public sector, and technology has become increasingly dynamic. Today, organizations have to refocus continuously to respond to new opportunities and threats, and the successful ones are those with the best response to new developments. Critical for any organization is its ability to adapt to its new context or, even better, to anticipate these changes. In many developing countries, agricultural research organizations are under growing financial pressure. This is due not only to the financial stress that prevails throughout the public sector, but also to the belief of many politicians that research outputs can often be requested and delivered from different sources, as in many other sectors of the economy, such as health and financial services. The theories that are driving public-sector reform suggest that research should be largely demand driven rather than science based. At the same time, the average level of education of agricultural research leaders has increased. One implication is that ISNAR is asked to look into much more specific challenges. National agricultural research organizations are now much less interested in generalist advice than a decade ago. They are looking to ISNAR for knowledge and expertise on specific issues. Another implication is that the science sector of many developing countries is becoming more diverse and more open to societal pressure: even in very poor countries there may be several research organizations, a host of policy and funding bodies, stakeholder organizations that want to be heard, several development projects that require knowledge, and regional and local levels of government that demand influence. In 2001, ISNAR reorganized its programmatic activities to take account of these trends in developing countries. Put in place in January 2002, the new program consists of six so-called Medium Term Plan projects:
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