Welcome Address
The welcome address was given for the Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University by Professor Saka Nuru, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Director of the National Animal and Production Research Institute (NAPRI). He stressed that animal traction was increasingly being used by farming families in Nigeria, and that there was currently significant interest in the technology by government authorities in Nigeria, who now saw animal traction as a viable alternative to tractorisation.
Keynote address
The keynote address on animal traction in Nigeria was given by the Chief Agricultural Engineer, Mr J.A. Dairo, representing the Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Natural Resources. He stressed the importance and appropriateness of animal traction, noting that the Ministry was giving the technology much attention, particularly through the activities of agricultural development projects in the northern states. He urged the workshop to discuss issues in depth and make concrete recommendations relating both to research and practical development, emphasising that the development process was a partnership between policy makers and research workers, extension and development agencies. He called for a thorough investigation into the socio-economic implications of animal traction adoption.
Introduction to the Keynote Paper
The Network Technical Adviser, Mr Paul Starkey, used slides to provide a broad overview of animal traction, emphasising how each photograph was in some way connected with the various activities of the West Africa Animal Traction Network (WAATN) during the past five years and presenting the numerous uses of animal power around the world. Slides were shown to illustrate aspects of each of the workshop subthemes and recent research in the various areas in different West African countries was briefly introduced, with examples of both formal research studies and farmer-led research-development initiatives.
Keynote paper
The keynote paper, by Dr Adama Faye, Chairman of the West Africa Animal Traction Network is given in full at the end of this sect on. It was read by Dr K Aptofia representing him and set out the objectives of WAATN. Dr Faye outlined the development and activities of the Network since its inception in 1985. He clarified the misconception that the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) had fanned a separate animal tract on network, and pointed out that a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the WAATN and ILCA. In this, (ILCA) as a member of WAATN, had agreed to achieve its animal traction networking goals in West Africa within the framework of WAATN.
The Network and ILCA
The Director General of ILCA, represented by the ILCA Animal Tract on Thrust Coordinator, Mr Ralph von Kaufmann, introduced participants to the role of ILCA. He commented favourably on the relationship between WAATN and ILCA and hoped that the present workshop would allow the network to progress from information exchange to active research collaboration. In this case, ILCA would endeavour to use its own comparative advantages to support network activities and complement the animal traction work of the various national research programmes.
