Data were collected for this report over a period of more than 6 years. I could not possibly thank individually all the staff of ILCA's programme in Mali who were involved in the study but I am, needless to say, grateful to each and everyone for their contributions.
Issa Haidara and Aba Mariko were largely responsible for collecting the field data, and latterly they were supervised in this by Adama Traoré. Analyses were carried out in conjunction with ILCA's Computer Unit in Addis Ababa and Robin Sayers, Jeff Durkin and Darrell Light provided invaluable assistance and advice. Engda Girma cleaned and corrected the data.
Mary Wilson suffered much throughout in addition to typing many drafts over the years. Azeb Melaku, assisted by Abeba Zenebe, struggled with appalling calligraphy, oversized tables and yet further drafts while remaining both undismayed and cheerful.
Ilse Alipui is thanked for editorial assistance and the staff of the ILCA Publications Division for designing, typesetting and printing this report.
