The workshop on which this volume is based represents one of the first formal activities of the CanadaûLatin America Initiative on Biotechnology, the Environment and Sustainable Development (CamBioTec). The Initiative, launched by IDRC in January 1995, is an ambitious program designed to promote the application of biotechnology-based products and applications to respond to critical needs in the agrifood and environmental management sectors of selected Latin American studies. This is to be achieved by supporting an integrated set of activities designed to identify opportunities for biotechnological innovations, and to overcome key bottlenecks to their effective application.