The international evaluation group established to undertake the review of the Finnish Agricultural Economics Research Institute (MTTL) is pleased to present its report. This summarises our findings and reflects the wide-ranging discussions we had with the management, staff and stakeholders of MTTL. These discussions resulted in an analysis and assessment of the performance of MTTL and were the basis for our recommendations for the future.

Agricultural economics can help Finland to promote the competitiveness of its food industry and rural services, sustain the viability of rural areas and ensure care for the environment. However, in a modern, rapidly changing industrial and scientific context, with an agricultural sector in transformation, the demands on agricultural economics and MTTL are high. In fact the pressures of change are so intense that meeting many existing and emerging research demands requires changes in MTTL and outside it: in the larger Finnish research system and in the scientific community of agricultural economics research.

Against this background we have given our views of the future needs and changes we believe will assist MTTL and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Finland in meeting the challenges of the future. To meet our terms of reference, we have found it necessary to look not just at MTTL but also at the broader field of agricultural economics research in Finland, and how this is supported by the Finnish research system. We trust that our evaluation and recommendations will be of value to those involved in this process. We have found a welcome willingness in Finnish society, as well as in MTTL, to call upon science to meet the challenge of change and to see knowledge as the basis for a modern society. That recognition encourages us to believe that successful changes will be implemented for the benefit of the Finnish society.