Fodder Resources and Grazing Management in a Savanna Environment: an Ecosystem Approach

The desirability for students of social and natural sciences to pool their abilities and resources in investigations concerned with man and his environment has often been noted, but genuine efforts in this direction are conspicuously less frequent. Admittedly, examples could be quoted of studies which synthetise the findings of individual researchers, many of which have been commissioned by those involved in the planning for and implementation of development. But few cases are known to the present authors of researchers who have tried to im-prove on the relevance, consistency, and coherenoe of their basic investigations into different, though related, aspects by seeking right from the start an interdisciplinary approaoh to a jointly delimited theme. Even among students of strongly interdependent disciplines such as geography and ecology, as represented by the present authors, these 'joint ventures' are believed to be rare. Those who set out on this challenging path therefore not only have to face occasional difficulties due to different frames of reference and jargon, but also and more important, the problem of designing a functionally integrated approach without being able to resort to previous endeavours for guidance.