Institutions and Technologies for Rural Development in West Africa: Proceedings of the International Symposium Organized by the University of Hohenheim, Germany, 16-22 February 1996 in Cotonou, Benin - Softcover

9783823612681: Institutions and Technologies for Rural Development in West Africa: Proceedings of the International Symposium Organized by the University of Hohenheim, Germany, 16-22 February 1996 in Cotonou, Benin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3823612689 ISBN 13: 9783823612681

Publisher: Margraf Publishers GmbH, 1997

This is a proceedings volume from an international symposium organized by the University of Hohenheim, which has been involved in research on agricultural problems in the Sudan-Sahelian zone of West Africa since 1985. The research programme was conceived to move in the classical way, from constraint identification via experimentation of improved resource utilization towards evaluation and technology transfer; an approach which assumes that technologies provide the key to solve problems. In the course of the programme, it has been discovered that on the surface, technical problems, such as decreasing soil fertility, wind and water erosion, as well as low labour productivity, are indeed constraining productivity. However, it has also been discovered that technical answers to overcome these problems are not sufficient. While improved technologies are required to raise productivity it has been found that for implementing these technologies, the institutional framework has to be in place. In fact, even the priorities which researchers attach to the technical problems may be seen quite differently by farmers. Therefore, the forum was called to share researchers' experiences in this context with others.

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