Paul Richards, an anthropological commentator and researcher specializing in agricultural technology and African farming systems, is emeritus professor of technology and agrarian development at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Formerly a professor at University College London in the department of anthropology, he spent 2014 teaching at Njala University in Sierra Leone, where he was worked for more than 30 years conducting ethnographic studies and the anthropological analysis of armed conflict.
When it comes to seed selection, a million heads are better than one. The process of farmer plant improvement is general right across the rice-growing region in West Africa, and keeping planting material in play through constant use and selection allows for a myriad of adaptation decisions.