Research Directions and Needs in African Rural Geography

Abstract

Obviously everything needs to be done immediately. This is the first desperate thought one has in contemplating the undone tasks which litter the geographical research landscape of Africa. The urgency of the tasks, their intellectual allure, and the tiny band of geographers which lightly peoples this landscape make for a kind of permanent agony of the mind. A first priority would seem to lie in helping more Africans to become professional geographers; more than anything, we need colleagues. Given more colleagues, the research needs would come increasingly to be met and the research directions would move along new and vital paths. While we work toward this longed-for estate, it is appropriate to take stock of what has been going on in geographical research in Africa, more especially, rural Africa, which is the particular focus of this publication. Other contributors to this issue have their say on specific subfields of rural geography, or on specific research strategies. My comments deal with: 1) the questions geographers are now asking in rural research, and 2) the means at our disposal to answer these questions. The Questions