Six characters (and a few more) in search of an author: how to rescue rural development before it’s too late in Colman, D and Vink, N (eds), Reshaping Agriculture’s Contributions to Society: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth International Conference of Agricultural Economists, held at Durban, South Africa, 16-22 August 2003, Blackwell: London.  2005.

Membership of the IAAE is individual rather than organizational, and is motivated by a genuine wish to learn and achieve sustainable development through agricultural and rural progress in all regions. The theme of the 25th conference, Reshaping Agriculture's Contribution to Society was chosen to embrace the broadest possible set of contemporary issues covering these concerns, with four specific sub themes (1) strategies for reducing poverty, (2) efficiency in food and farming systems, (3) food safety and security, and (4) environmental management.