FROM AGRICULTURAL TO BIO-BASED ECONOMICS? CONTEXT, STATE OF THE ART AND CHALLENGES

The world economy is experiencing dramatic changes. The key issues for the future appear to be increasing human demands (food, energy, environmental public goods) that will put greater pressure on natural resources, exacerbating scarcity issues and leading to new ones (land, water, biomasses, environmental quality). Agriculture has gone through an innovation process leading to long-term productivity growth, but has also become less central to the production of bio-based products, though remaining the key sector.