Farming systems in the Nigerian Savanna : research and strategies for development

The authors draw extensively on comprehensive studies they and their associates conducted over an 11-year period in northern Nigeria. Their discussion of these studies, which focused on production, consumption, and marketing systems and included the testing of improved technology packages, is supplemented by results of research conducted in other parts of semiarid West Africa. Emphasizing the importance of a proper understanding of the technical and human environment in which farming families operate, they describe the essential characteristics of a farming systems approach and consider methodological and implementation problems that must be solved if it is to become a widely accepted development strategy in the 1980"s. Appended are a 20-page bibliography (1951-81) and author and subject indexes; 41 tables, 16 figures, and 3 maps illustrate the text. (Author abstract, modified)