SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES FOR AGRICULTURAL-RESEARCH STRATEGIES IN THE SEMIARID TROPICS - FOCUS ON THE SAHEL

To stimulate debate in agricultural research circles, the paper discus ses six sets of issues for the design and strategy of agricultural res earch on sustainability in the semi-arid tropics of Africa, to wit: (i ) what production systems to propose in what zones, in particular how and where to intensify, (ii) what measures are needed to conserve the resource base in different zones; (iii) what incentive measures, and t echnology design, are needed to encourage and enable farmers to adopt conservation and productivity measures; (iv) what complementary invest ments at farm, village, and state level are necessary to help farmers make those investments; (v) what crop and activity mix should be susta ined - are the conditions upstream and downstream from production of t hat mix conducive to sustained profitability; (vi) how should sustaina bility research be organized?