National agricultural research programmes in Sahelian countries of West Africa: Problems and recommendations

Increasing food production in Africa through augmentation of the area of cultivated land is becoming less feasible thus emphasizing the need for increasing the productivity of the existing area to meet the objectives of national food security programmes. Several factors, however, negate the achievement of this goal. This paper focuses on the eight countries of the West African Sahel and discusses the implication of the lack of a critical mass of indigenous scientists in national programmes for conducting adaptive research on existing technologies or generating new ones for the particular situations of the region. The problems associated with these programmes are presented in the light of the number and calibre of personnel in agricultural research, the place of agriculture in national development, and the impact of foreign technical assistance. Measures for improving the domestic capacity of national programmes especially as they relate to training, are discussed. Regionalisation and networking programmes are also suggested as possible alternatives.