The theme for this workshop 'Research for Development of Animal Traction' encapsulates the important notion that development of animal traction (AT) or any other technology relies on research. Unless new ideas are constantly being generated, tested and put into practice, result is at best stagnation, or more usually, retrogression. In today's world, population pressure and changes in weather, crops and agronomic practices make it more important than ever to research into ways of developing appropriate animal traction techniques and making them available to farmers.
This need not always be the formal research of the professional scientist. Farmers and extension workers can and do have new ideas and the role of the scientist and of other professionals is then to help test these ideas systematically. But the very fact that professional scientists are involved in AT research raises the status of AT in the eyes of the general public, funding bodies, and policy makers.
The importance of research and the great number of topics which need to be addressed were reflected in the wide-ranging recommendations of the various Workshop discussion groups. Certain areas such as nutrition have more unanswered questions than others like economics, but all need some investigation to help farmers using AT to improve present practices and prepare for the changes ahead.
One of the problems of scientific research is that it is extremely time-consuming. The result has been that the editing of these Proceedings has perforce had to be fitted into a very busy experimental schedule dictated by the exigencies of the agricultural calendar which rule both farmer and practical scientist! Many of the papers submitted required considerable editing; tables and diagrams had to be reworked, and missing abstracts provided. Peter Lawrence and Jeroen Dijkman edited all English papers, Peter Lawrence reworked tables and diagrams where necessary, and Kate Lawrence edited the French papers, formatted all papers and tables and was responsible for correspondence with the authors, French and English. All edited papers were despatched to the authors for vetting and approximately 50% replied, expressing satisfaction with the result. To any unsatisfied authors who did not reply, we extend our apologies, but West African colleagues will appreciate the difficulty of operating within an area where communications, especially between anglophone and francophone countries, can be problematic.
More importantly, the time-consuming nature of research means that researchers do not always have the time or opportunity to disseminate their findings in the most wide-ranging and effective manner. Organisations like WAATN and ILCA, through their publications and project involvement, do an invaluable job in spreading new information among those who need it most. We hope these latest Proceedings will prove as useful as their predecessors in this respect.
Peter Lawrence
Animal Traction Research Coordinator, ILCA
Editor in chief
Kate Lawrence
Teaching Fellow, University of Edinburgh
Jeroen Dijkman
Consultant, ILCA
Paul Starkey
African Animal Traction Network Consultant
November 1992
