Compares the climates and soils and vegetation of the Ethiopian Rift Vallety with those of other areas in Africa, with particular reference to the screening of forage species. Examines the diversity of climates and soil conditions as they constitute constraints to forage or crop production in the Rift Valley, classifying major tribes in the grass flora, & analysing the adaptability of some genera of tropical forage legumes in commercial use to water stress, heat stress & poor soil.

Presents findings and proposals of a team which studied the pastoral zone of Niger to forumlate a development programme, describing the existing production systems and constraints related to range resources, nutrition, water points and diseases.

Discusses biological options available for improvement in the productivity of pastoral systems, particularly referring to problems arising from aridity and under-nutrition, and problems of particular systems such as mortality of young stock, bush encroachment, epidemic diseases and management systems.

Indicates factors that must be considered when designing pastoral systems research, esp. the need to maintain complementantrity among various types of research; the need for policy orientation when carrying out research; and setting up of priorities & opportunities. Includes case examples from work carried out by the ILCA subhumid programme.

Discusses ways of studying economics of household level activities in pastoral production systems, with particular reference to the collection and analysis of data on household income and expenditure as well as resources inventory.

Reviews differences between crop production and pastoral production, considering their effects on research possibilities; and describes basic methods that may be used to collect household level data, esp. informal & formal surveys, enumeration and the use of questionnaires.

Reviews most recent applications of methodologies for resource surveys appropriate to pastoral & agro-pastoral regions in Africa, with particular reference to remote sensing methodologies, viz. satellite imagery, aerial photography, side-looking radar (SLR), spectral radiance and low-altitutde aerial survey. Discusses the integration of remote sensing techniques with ground truth within the context of rapid appraisal methods and early warning procedures within a livestock systems research approach.

Discusses issues related to the collection of data on labour inputs for pastoral production, considering the utility of data on labour as part of pastoral systems research, and research methods for data collection, particularly for multi-visit recall techniques and the time allocation technique.

Discusses the aim of studies on vegetation & feed resources in pastoral systems, describing the collection & presentation of data in the descriptive phase; identification of constraints in the diagnostic phase; and analysis of the impact of selected variables or technical innovations on the systems' functioning, and the development of adapted technology in the experimental phase.

Describes techniques of long-and short-term measurements of changes in vegetation and feed resources in pastoral systems, with particular reference to sampling techniques and costs of the various methods.

Examines the need and methods for studying livestock markets and routinely collect time series data on prices of livestock at local, regional and terminal markets, outlining a method for setting up a systematic collection and analysis of livestock market information. Presents a simplifed livestock marketing systems model; illustrated suggestions for data analysis; and recommendations for a national organizational framework for collecting & analyzing livestock market data.

Discusses ways of collecting livestock data, mentioning the usefulness and techniques of low-level aerial surveys to gather information on animal numbers; and methods of recording weight changes and milk yields.