At its 48th plenary meeting, on 24 July 2003, the Economic and Social Council took note, during its consideration at the high-level segment on rural development, of the contribution of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development on this topic, which was addressed by the Commission under the substantive theme of its fifth session in 2001 entitled “National capacity-building on biotechnology” and summarized in its report; 78 in its deliberations under the above theme, the Commission addressed the opportunities and challenges presented by new and emerging biotechnologies and underlined the need for national capacity-building in biotechnology to support efforts in rural development, including improving food security, agricultural productivity, health and environmental sustainability.
