In the globalized world that characterizes this turn of century the Regional/Sub-Regional
Organizations (ROs/SROs) play a key role in facilitating scientific and technological
cooperation among groups of countries. Through cooperative action, the ROs/SROs facilitate
joint research efforts, seeking to assure a critical mass of human and financial resources in
strategic areas of research, and to promote concerted action among the various stakeholders of
agricultural research for development (ARD). Given the increasing institutional diversification
of ARD, this in itself is an important objective. These organizations also play an important role
in the context of integration processes that are taking place in different parts of the world,
mainly at the sub-regional level..