remunerative markets that make adoption profitable will not be easy. Considerable effort-and public sector resources-will have to go into producer education programs and market support activities. In this regard, many problems with maize in Africa appear institutional and financial rather than purely technical: Can farmers be provided with the additional education they need to manage more complex tech- nologies? Can economic incentives be created to increase production? Can effective input delivery sys- tems be designed and imple- mented? Can stable markets be assured without bankrupting state treasuries? At the same time, to say that many obstacles to increased maize pro- duction are institutional and financial does not imply that all technical problems have been solved. Numerous technical chal- lenges remain to be addressed, especially with regard to sustaining increased yields over the long term in more marginal areas. The relative paucity of technologies "on the shelf," waiting to be trans- ferred to farmers after minimal modifications, emphasizes the need to improve the quality of trained re- search staff and to increase the productivity of resources allocated to research. During the past dec- ade, agricultural research has been relatively well funded in Africa, yet technological progress has been modest at best, particularly in food crops (Eicher 1989). Many research administrators have begun to realize that money alone cannot solve all problems; more effort must go into carefully managing re- sources and targeting expenditures at research that will have a high payoff. For example, it is not enough to establish that drought is a problem requiring additional work. Instead, the implications for research must be carefully thought through. How can drought prob- lems most effectively be addressed? Should research resources be invested in breeding programs designed to develop drought- resistant germplasm, or will higher payoffs be attained if the resources are used to finance crop manage- ment research on practices for conserving soil moisture? The role of policy also requires study. Resolving the constraints on maize production in Africa will certainly require improved tech- nologies, but agricultural research cannot be expected to produce results in the absence of policy reforms. Too often, technological in- novations are blocked by inappro- priate incentives facing producers, unavailability of inputs, lack of in- formation at the farm level, or excessive delivery costs. If farmers do not know about available tech- nologies, cannot obtain improved inputs, or have no incentives to alter existing practices-or if the government cannot afford to sustain programs that promote production-raising the low levels of maize production will require effective policy reform. Since effective policy reform can only be based on accurate knowledge, research-not necessarily more, but better, research-will be re- quired. At the farm or local level, research will be needed to identify key production constraints and to devise policies capable of resolving them. At the national or global level, research will also be needed to help improve our understanding of the factors affecting food con- sumption patterns, so that policies can be designed to manage produc- tion, consumption, and trade. Finally, the design of new technolo- gies and policies will increasingly have to be undertaken with a view to their effects over more extended time periods. The long-term impli- cations of intensifying maize production in Africa, with its often fragile soils, limited rainfall, and complex farming systems, remain unclear. Past experience suggests that "quick-fix" solutions designed to raise cereal production in re- sponse to pressing food shortages often prove unsustainable over the long run. Production technologies must therefore be developed with sustainability in mind. Institutions, especially those governing land tenure arrangements, will have to be adapted as well to accommodate the need to establish sustainable systems for managing soil and water resources. The present challenge-and future possibilities-should not be under- estimated. Maize, more than any other crop, offers the promise of meeting Africa's food needs in the years to come. If even a few of the obstacles described in this report can be overcome, there is no reason to believe that the promise will not be fulfilled.