I am most grateful to Stephen Sandford who contributed more than anyone else to this study. He initiated the research, helped design it and followed it throughout with his stimulating interest and incorrigible scepticism whenever the calculations and conclusions seemed unclear. During the 2 years of the study, other colleagues in ILCA's Livestock Economy Division - Addis Anteneh, John McIntire, Stephen Mbogoh and Gil Rodriguez Jr. - never denied me the benefit of their comments.
Panos A. Konandreas and W. Krostitz of FAO's Commodities and Trade Division helped with the collection of trade data which Tibebu Derbie and Berhanu Anteneh processed for analysis. Berhanu also assisted in the estimation of econometric models. John McIntire and Darrel Light of ILCA's Computer Unit helped me with the computerised calculations needed and Gil Rodriguez with the interpretation of the underlying formal concepts. Ray Brokken, who joined ILCA after I had left, had the unenviable task of amending some parts of the report and clarifying Chapters 5 and 6, for which I am very grateful. Among the other ILCA staff who contributed to this report I wish to thank Inca Alipui for editing the draft in a critical and perceptive manner:
Outside ILCA, I owe a major debt to S. Nwoko of the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, who, despite numerous problems and modest funding, carried out an indepth study of Nigeria's import policy and dairy imports, and thus provided the basis for discussions in the first part of Chapter 7. In Mali, the Government itself and the Institut national de la recherche zootechnique, forestière et hydrobiologique (INRZFH), have been most supportive during my own inquiries into the country's dairy import policy. Among my many collaborators, Y. S. Koné of INRZFH and S. Sidibe of the Direction rationale d'élevage must be mentioned here because without their support part of this research would never have been completed.
It is precisely because of the enthusiastic involvement of many nationals that I wish that both Nigeria and Mali may draw some benefit from these modest efforts to throw light on their dairy import policies. None of those mentioned, however, and no one but myself can be blamed for any errors and misrepresentations that may remain in the study.
