Food insecurity and rural stagnation continue to plague the African continent and the answer to this situation necessitates greater productivity and profitability in the agricultural sector. Constraints to crop production include insufficient pest and disease control, inadequate access to improved crop varieties, degraded soils, limited access to markets and market information and unreliable extension services. Where technical solutions exist to these constraints, development specialists must find means to deliver them in a form understandable and acceptable to farmers. When these solutions are lacking, agricultural scientists must focus their efforts upon assisting farmers to solve their problems through improved technologies.