Scientific writing for agricultural research scientists: a training reference manual

THE NEED FOR TRAINING agricultural research scientists in Africa in the procedures and techniques for writing and publishing the results of their research has been independently identified by a variety of institutions, organizations and agricultural research and development networks throughout the region. Early in 1990, the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) and the West Africa Farming Systems Research Network (WAFSRN), coordinated by the Semi-Arid Food Grains Research and Development Project (SAFGRAD), met in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire, to discuss this training need and to formulate a joint effort to organize a series of training courses in scientific writing for agricultural research scientists in West Africa. This discussion led to an expert consultation in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, supported by the Ford Foundation and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) in 1991. At this consultation, the target audience for these courses was defined, details of a training course curriculum and pattern of instruction were elaborated and a 3-year training project was developed. An important component of this project was the development and publication of a training manual to accompany these courses. Group training started in Togo in 1991 and has continued every year, with the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) collaborating from 1994. Our aim in these training courses is to achieve the following: strengthen scientific communication capabilities of agricultural research scientists in Africa encourage and promote a culture of scientific publishing among agricultural researchers

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