Preface

My first job was with the Tea Research Institute of East Africa. This institute served the tea industries in three neighbouring countries, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, each with diverse ecological conditions. The results of the research, which was largely funded by the industry, had to be interpreted and applied to areas distant from the location of the field experiments, and then communicated to smallholders as well as large estates in appropriate ways. There was little opportunity to undertake basic research as the industry wanted answers to immediate practical questions, but if the results were to have generic value answers to fundamental questions were also needed.

My second job was in the UK with Wye College (University of London) where the task was to support the introduction of maize, a ‘new crop’, into British agriculture. This might seem very different from the job in East Africa, but the challenge was the same. To undertake and report research of immediate value to enterprising farmers concerned about profitability, yet supported by good science. It also meant working with a multidisciplinary team of agronomists, engineers and economists.