The need for an appraisal of the current status of the post-harvest sector from both institutional and stakeholder perspectives in developing countries is of paramount importance in identifying the problems, potentials and constraints of that sector. This was the rationale for the conduct of five technical regional workshops (Workshops) by FAO in cooperation with the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR).
The regional Workshop for Central Asia and the Caucasus was organized by the Regional Agricultural Research Forum, and was held in the Republic of Kazakhstan during the period 20 to 22 February 2002. Activities preparatory to the workshop were carried out by the National Academic Centre of Agrarian Research (NACAR), Almaty, Kazakhstan under the guidance of Dr. A. Satybaldin, Chairman of the Agricultural Research Forum for Central Asia and Caucasus, and Director General of NACAR.