Abstract:

Inter-territorial groupings of agricultural research have been a feature in Africa since the colonial periods (FAO, 1982). Before independence the francophone countries had their sub-groupings with coordination between the various agricultural research systems done at the regional level through such agencies as the Commission de Cooperation Technique en Afrique au Sud du Sahara (CCTA) and the Conseil Scientifique pour l'Afrique Sud du Sahara (CSA). At the sub-regional level such coordination was done by the Comite Regional de l'Afrique Centsale pour la Conservation et Utilisation des SoIs (CRACCUS) and Comite Regional pour la Conservation et l'Utilisation des SoIs de l'Afrique Meridionale (SARCUS). The British had inter-territorial research institutes such as the West Africa Agricultural Research Organization with six institutes, including the West Africa Cocoa Research Institute (WACRI) and the West Africa Institute for Oil Palm Research (WAIFOR). There was also the Empire Cotton Research Organization that covered cotton research in all areas under British control. In West Africa, french agricultural research was under the umbrella of the Office de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique d' Outre-Mer (ORSTOM) and other agencies such as Institut de Recherche Agronomique Tropicale (IRAT). The Belgians coordinated research on livestock, fisheries, forestry and food crops through only one agency, the Institut National pour l'Etude Agronomique de Congo (INEAC).