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and budgets based on submissions from Research Program Coordinators and Statlon Hanagers. The project will set up a Persomiel Unit under the Administration and Finance Directorate to strengthen capability in personnel management, and a Materiał Resources Unit under the same Directorate that will be responsible for procurement and maintenance of the materiał resources of the institute. The financial management and accounting system of INRAN would be strengthened through a regular consultancy contract providing short-term support missicms (Annez 5) and the recruitment of local accountants, thereby improving INRAN*s capacity to operate and manage a comprehensive computerized accounting system for ezpenditures under the project* A Management Council (Conseil d⁹Administration; para 4*01) would supervise and control INRAN, approve its budget, provide policy guidance and ensure that INRAN* 8 proposed annual research programs are in linę with national goals and priorities.

3.08    Presently there are only 66 research (field) assistants (•techniciens") in INRAN for its 51 researchers (ezcluding ezpatriates). With the proposed project, the number of researchers during the five-year period would increase to a total of 84. The project would also redress the imbalance between researchers and research assistants, by hiring a total of 34 new "techniciens superieurs" and 68 'techniciens moyens" to give a ratio of about 2 research assistants per researcher. About 9 administrative Staff would also be recruited.

3.09    The project would support improvements to INRAN*s basie network of research centers. At the Nlamey center, this will include the ezisting soils laboratories responsible for cartography and Chemical and physical soil analyses; a laboratory of microbiology (to be created under the project), to work on microrrhizal inoculation of leguminous trees and forage plants for improvement of soil fertility; and a laboratory of food technology (incorporating the ezisting oil-seed and cereal ąuality laboratory) to improve the quality of agricultural products and by-produets.

3*10 Associated Laboratories INRAN/Unlverslty of Nlamey* The project will support additional eąuipment, operating ezpenses, and support Staff to enable the University of Nlamey to better support INRAN and the national agricultural research program. These labs will includes (i) laboratories of animal physiology and animal nutrltion; (ii) a generał economics unit charged with economic and policy research at the level of production and marketing channels and which would develop a method for analyzing the impact of research on agricultural production; (iii) a production Systems unit which would support the program in this sector at the national level, while at the same time conductlng specific research on production Systems in the regions of Nlamey and Dosso.

3.11 The Centers at Kolio and Tama will implement, in the agricultural zones of the regions of Nlamey and Maradi, respectively, research on* rainfed and irrigated crops (improvement, plant protection and agronamy); livestock (fodder crops, feedlng, animal health and management); forestry (collection and conservatlon of germplasm of native species, sustainable ezploitation of natural forests, reforestatlon); agro-forestry/soil conservatlon (windbreaks, dune stabilization, planting of soil~improving species, etc); and production Systems.