1. Introduction
CARE is the world's largest non-sectarian, non-governmental, relief and development agency. Founded in 1946 to provide relief in Europe, CARE is now operational in 35 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. CARE's worldwide relief and development budget for 1990 was approximately USS 375 million. Within CARE, development activities fall within three sectors: agriculture and natural resources; primary health care; and small economic activity development. Agriculture and natural resource management projects are a major, highly visible component of CARE's rural development programming in West Africa. The objective of this paper is to re-examine the premises upon which the current projects, and particularly the agroforestry projects in the Sahelo- Sudanian and Sahelian zones, are based. Dr~,wing on 15 years experience in these zones, as well as the lessons learned from a series of project evaluations over the last 5 years, a framework is developed to prioritize activities relative to the major ecological zones in the region.