Features GENES IN THE FIELD On-Farm Conservation of Crop Diversity PEOPLE, PLANTS, AND PATENTS The Impact of Intellectual Property on Trade, Plant Biodiversity, and Rural Society The Crucible Group SEEDING SOLUTIONS: VOLUME 1 Policy Options for Genetic Resources (People, Plants, and Patents Revisited) The Crucible II Group SEEDING SOLUTIONS: VOLUME 2 Options for National Laws Governing Access To and Control Over Genetic Resources The Crucible II Group

Resource-poor farmers all across Latin America are finding a new way to increase productivity and improve their livelihoods -- they're forming committees. These local agricultural research committees, or CIALs to use their Spanish acronym, are part learning centre, part community association, and part experimental research group. They have evolved as a platform for evaluating, adapting, and disseminating new technology. In addition, the committees have become an engine for rural development initiatives such as the formation of credit and marketing groups. They offer the promise of a better life for poor hillside farmers throughout the region. But success sometimes comes at a price.