These proceedings include papers presented at the VII-th Internatio nal Conference on Multiple Criteria Decision Making which was held in Kyoto/Japan on August 18-22, 1986. Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) has been a greatly import ant subject in many practical fields, for example, in planning, design, control and management in both private and public sectors. After remark able developments of theory, methodology and pilot case studies in rec ent years, it is now facing the stage of real applications and develop ment of more sophisticated methodology as interactive intelligent decision support systems. The conference aimed to provide a significant contribu tion to the future of MCDM as one of total systems including human factors: Substantial emphasis was given to knowledge engineering and cognitive sci ence. The conference inherits the tradition and the style of the previous conferences: (1) Jouy-en-Josas/France (1975), (2) Buffalo/U.S.A. (1977), (3) Konigswinter/FRG (1978), (4) Delaware/U.S.A. (1980), (5) Mons/Belgium (1982), (6) Cleveland/U.S.A. (1984). This time a great many Japanese com panies provided grants for the conference. As a result, the total number of participants was over 120, and a computer demonstration could be reali zed on an extensive scale as well as the conference sessions. Throughout the conference, it was observed that MCDM is making steady progress not only in theory but also as a tool for decision support.

The first premise of this book is that farmers need access to options for improving their situation. In agricultural terms, these options might be manage ment alternatives or different crops to grow, that can stabilize or increase household income, that reduce soil degradation and dependence on off-farm inputs, or that exploit local market opportunities. Farmers need a facilitating environment, in which affordable credit is available if needed, in which policies are conducive to judicious management of natural resources, and in which costs and prices of production are stable. Another key ingredient of this facilitating environment is information: an understanding of which options are viable, how these operate at the farm level, and what their impact may be on the things that farmers perceive as being important. The second premise is that systems analysis and simulation have an impor tant role to play in fostering this understanding of options, traditional field experimentation being time-consuming and costly. This book summarizes the activities of the International Benchmark Sites Network for Agrotechnology Transfer (IBSNAT) project, an international initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). IBSNAT was an attempt to demonstrate the effectiveness of understanding options through systems analysis and simulation for the ultimate benefit of farm households in the tropics and subtropics. The idea for the book was first suggested at one of the last IBSNAT group meetings held at the University of Hawaii in 1993.

This volume analyzes food security issues such as agricultural policy, global agricultural trade, international agricultural research and development, biotechnology, climate change, food waste, and nutrition guidelines.

Both the 'First International Summer School on Multiple Criteria Decision Making Methods, Applications and Software' and the present volume of readings could only be realised with assistance and support from many sides. We would like to express our gratitude to all those who have contributed to making a success of the first of a hopefully long series of summer schools in this field and to all those who have contribut. ed to the present volume. First of all we are grateful for the financial means supplied by a long list of sponsors, the most important of which are mentioned on the copyright page. Next, we are grateful to the members of the organising committee, Anna Ostanello and Giovanni Zambruno. Since this is the first of what will become a series of summer schools, the chairman of the organising committee, Benedetto Matarazzo, will start this volume with a brief account of the school held in Acireale. The programme committee consisted of Jean Fichefet, Anna Ostanello, Bernard Roy, Jaap Spronk (chairman) and Stanley Zionts. Their valuable contribu tion is gratefully acknowledged, as is the contribution of all the lecturers at the school. Of course, a school is not only made by its teachers, but just as much by its students. The primary aim of a school is to teach and to stimulate the students.