The paper reviews and summarizes evidences of impacts of crop improvement r
esearch of major food crops in Africa. It provides evidence of increased av
ailability of improved varieties of major food crops to farmers in Africa,
increased food production in regions where adoption has occurred, and posit
ive returns to research investment, indicating that agricultural research i
n Africa has had productivity increasing impacts on its agriculture. Howeve
r, research impacts vary considerably across countries and regions within a
country as a result of agroclimatic factors and policy environment, which
affects the supply of seeds and other inputs, and the continuity and stabil
ity of research investments. The paper points to a number of important issu
es, both internal and external to the agricultural research system organiza
tion that need to be addressed if agricultural research is to provide a sti
mulus for modernizing African agriculture. Given the small size of food cro
p production area in many African countries, it is important for research s
ystems to take full advantage of research spill-ins from regional and inter
national research organizations. There is a great potential to increase the
efficiency of research systems by improving the coordination among members
of national research systems and continuing improvements in collaborations
between NARSs and regional and international organizations. (C) 2000 Elsev
ier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.