Launched in 2003, AGORA provides free or subsidised journal access to not-for-profit institutions in eligible countries. Once details are finalised, all institutions in countries with a GNP per capita under US$1,000 will be given access to participating literature. The journal collection focuses on agriculture and related sciences, and includes titles from major publishing houses. AGORA is an FAO initiative. Click here for more details about registering.

The African Journal of Biotechnology is a peer-reviewed online journal that publishes research in food, agricultural and industrial applications of biochemistry, microbiology, genomics and proteomics.

All articles are free to access and readers can also sign up to free email alerts containing the table of contents for each new issue.

AfricanCrops.Net — funded by the Rockefeller Foundations Biotechnology, Breeding and Seed Systems Programme and the Partnership to Fight Striga of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation — publishes a monthly newsletter with information on upcoming conferences, training programmes and funding opportunities. It also hosts a discussion forum where visitors can share experiences of issues such as crop improvement and molecular marker applications.

The website links to a wide range of documents and points to resources dedicated to specific African crops such as cassava, cowpea and sorghum. It also hosts an extensive collection of links to online databases, glossaries, bibliographies, search engines, genetic maps and statistics relating to African-focused biotechnology and plant breeding research.

FAO-BioDeC is a database of agricultural biotechnologies being researched, developed or applied in developing countries. It does not provide quantitative information on research being carried out in international centres located in developing countries, or on the level of funding any individual technology receives. But it does give an overview of the stages of adoption of agricultural technologies in different regions that can be used to identify gaps in research or areas for potential collaboration.

This website from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provides an overview of agricultural biotechnologies across different sectors in the developing world, and the FAO's activities in this area. It includes the FAO's biotechnology forum, which hosts email conferences on topics such as strengthening partnerships in agricultural biotechnologies to benefit smallholders in developing countries. The website also links to reports, online books, research studies, press releases and national biotechnology policy documents. A multilingual biotechnology glossary, as well as news and events, are also provided.

HarvestPlus works towards reducing micronutrient malnutrition, or 'hidden hunger', by improving the level of micronutrients in staple food crops in Africa and Asia using bio-fortification. It focuses on iron, zinc, and vitamin A — recognised by the WHO as critical micronutrients — and on crops such as millet, wheat, rice and sweet potato.

The website details current activities through an online map and provides access to publications including abstracts, technical monographs, and working papers produced with 60 partner institutions.

Knowledge for Development is a web-based source of information on science and technology for agriculture and rural development in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. It promotes collaboration between agricultural research and development scientists and technologists in ACP countries, and facilitates dialogue between ACP and European communities with the aim of strengthening policy formulation on science and technology issues.

This website contains a number of useful documents on biofuels and biotechnology in ACP countries.