The West Africa Animal Traction Network aims to foster the use of animal power for agricultural development in the region and it encourages the exchange of information between its members in West Africa and elsewhere. One of the ways in which information on animal traction can be exchanged is through conferences, seminars and workshops. To date, three regional workshops have been held under the auspices of the West Africa Animal Traction Network, and this present volume relates to the third of these.
The West Africa Animal Traction Network does not have full-time staff or funding and so it relies on the goodwill of supporting organizations in facilitating Network activities. The Network Steering Committee therefore wishes to express its profound gratitude to Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), for agreeing at an early stage to be the principal workshop sponsor and to the Institut Sénégalais de Recherche Agricole (ISRA) for agreeing to be the host organization. The committee also commends and warmly thanks the other organizations which provided much needed support for the Workshop including the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), the German Appropriate Technology Exchange (GATE), the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), and Environment and Development in the Third World (ENDA).
The Steering Committee of the West Africa Animal Traction Network wishes to acknowledge the contributions made by all participants discussion groups and rapporteurs at the Workshop in Senegal. The editors have presented these various contributions in two parts. The first part presents a summary of the Workshop activities as well as the principal recommendations of the discussion groups and the whole workshop. The second part contains edited versions of the many papers circulated or presented at the workshop.
The publication of these proceedings was made possible thanks to the support of the International Livestock Centre for Africa and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation. The Steering Committee would like to express its deep, heartfelt gratitude to ILCA and CTA for their assistance.
The committee intends that the workshop recommendations and evaluation will serve as a basis for planning forthcoming Network activities. In addition, since the proceedings contain technical papers and networking announcements, together with names and addresses of the individuals and organizations involved, it is hoped that the circulation of these proceedings will further stimulate exchanges of information within the region. If this is achieved, it will further strengthen the West Africa Animal Traction Network.
This preface was drafted by the Network Steering Committee during a meeting in Kano, northern Nigeria, at which the Committee planned the Fourth West Africa Animal Traction Workshop, due to be held in July 1990. The committee would be most interested to learn the extent to which these proceedings are found useful, and would welcome constructive criticism and suggestions for future network activities and publications.
West Africa Animal Traction Network Steering Committee
Kano, January 1990
Adama FAYE, Senegal,
Kossivi APETOFIA, Togo
Bai KANU, Sierra Leone
Dayo PHILLIP, Nigeria
Jabel SOWE, The Gambia
Dramane ZERBO, Mali
Paul STARKEY, Technical Adviser
Ralph von KAUFMANN, ILCA
