ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the technology transfer process and its role in international development. The promise of agricultural technology challenges political leaders and economic institutions to extend the benefits of expanded productivity to the developing nations. The chapter considers social and political barriers in light of their significant potential to mitigate or magnify the success of otherwise well-concelved technology transfer efforts. Macro-level planning involves a broad perspective of the long-term implications of technology transfer. Technology transfer also is held accountable to a variety of non-production goals including increases in overall rural employment, more equitable income distributions, and the development of local institutional capacity. The pace of world population growth demands an active rather than a passive response to the need for accelerated agricultural productivity in developing countries. New technology places new demands on unclaimed ocean space, raising significant questions about biological capacity to sustain yield and institutional responses to protect the resource.
