R.D.Stern and E.F. Allan
Statistical Services Centre, University of Reading, Harry Pitt Building
Whiteknights Road, Reading, UK
E-mail: e.f.allan@reading.ac.uk and r.d.stern@reading.ac.uk
Since the early 1990s the World Bank has financed a project to enhance the research capacity in the Institute de Reserche d'Agricole de la Guinea (IRAG) in francophone West Africa. The institute has approximately 100 scientists in six stations and these are mainly crop researchers. Early attempts at biometrics training in 1992 as part of this project were found to be too theoretical. A review was therefore done in 1997 by the biometrician from West African Rice Development Association (WARDA, Côte d'Ivoire) to determine the real needs for biometrics training. The recommendations from this review were that the scientists should be trained in the design of experiments and in the analysis of research data if they were to obtain a more practical appreciation of biometrics. Genstat was proposed as the most appropriate software for analysis.
The training which resulted from this review was conducted mainly by biometricians- from Niger, Bénin and Guinea who are employed in national and international institutes within the region. External support was provided from three international research institutes: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) and WARDA that work within the region. The University of Reading was involved only when sufficient resources were not available locally. This paper describes the training.
A two-week course in design of experiments was given in May 1997, just before the planting season. This used training materials originally developed by ICRAF for agroforestry researchers, and which had been broadened and translated into French by ICRISAT and used several times already in West Africa. Twenty scientists attended this course given by a team of three biometricians from Institut National de Recherche en Agriculture du Bénin (INRAB), WARDA and IRAG . The course was then repeated at four of the stations.
In October 1998 these courses were followed by an initial course on methods of statistical analysis. Since no one from within the region had sufficient experience in Genstat, a biometrician from the University of Reading was involved in running a course. It became clear during the course that the scientists needed training in data entry and management before they could deal easily with data analysis.
A two-week course was therefore given in July 1999 on data entry using Excel and on simple data analysis. The Excel materials were prepared by staff from the University of Reading using data from Guinea and translated into French in Bénin. Again twenty scientists attended the course. Immediately after the course one of the presenters gave further one-week courses on data entry at five other stations.
Finally, the full analysis methods course was given in November and December 1999. This used training materials prepared by staff from ICRAF and the University of Reading in June 1999 and translated into French by the Bénin biometrician. This two-week course was run by a team of four biometricians-one from the University of Reading and the rest from within the region-and was largely a revision of the earlier course covering simple and more complex methods of analysis. This was followed straight away by repeat courses at three stations but at a slower pace and covering only simple methods. Scientists used their own data for the practical work.
In analysing the achievements to date of this training programme it is important to emphasise that the World Bank was looking for a solution from within the region to the biometric needs in Guinea. Staff involved in the training were, with one exception, all from francophone West Africa, and they were all highly motivated towards making the training successful. Furthermore, the Director of Research at IRAG is a biometrician and thus gave key support to the training. (This has its drawback, because as Director of Research he has limited time to devote to biometric support in the midst of his other duties.) Other important positive aspects of the training were (a) it was given in French, the language of the region, (b) it was participative and (c) it evolved to meet the needs of the participants.
In retrospect, the process took too long. The twenty scientists participating in courses kept changing because of different commitments at the time; it would have been better had the training been completed within one year. Also, because of the way the training evolved, the analysis methods course was repeated three times (though not always to the same twenty scientists). The courses were aimed at biological scientists. Socio-economists were not included and separate training was arranged for them. One can argue for a more integrated approach in the future to the training of all staff at an institute, especially with the evolving multidisciplinary nature of on-farm agricultural research.
In conclusion, it is important to emphasise that the players in this biometrics training programme were from both national and international institutions. The participation of ICRAF, ICRISAT and the University of Reading has been important to develop the course material and approach. However, it has been essential to involve regional biometricians from Cote d'Ivoire, Bénin and Niger as these provide the basis of a team of local biometricians able to sustain biometrics training in the region in the future. Although all scientists at IRAG will soon have been trained in biometrics and data management to a certain level, this is just the first step. Further training will be needed. Some of the scientists have been identified as resource persons who will be able to help in this regard. The interaction with international institutes and overseas institutions will need to be sustained so that the trainers can be kept abreast with up to date biometric methods appropriate to research conducted in West Africa.
The following are the biometricians who, in addition to Roger Stern, participated in the training programme: Abdoulaye Adam (WARDA), Gaston Kokode (INRAB), Zobinou Mawusi (formerly ICRISAT), Sekou Beavogui (IRAG). Their major contributions are acknowledged.
