This plan of action is the outcome of an initiative taken by the Task Force on Sub-Saharan Africa, a body set up by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It deals with the maize and cassava research needs of coastal West and Central Africa. Maize and cassava are the predominant crops in the region. The countries which participated in the initiative were Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. It was not until the completion of the second phase of the initiative that Cote d'Ivoire was able to participate; discussions are continuing and details of Cote d'Ivoire's research needs will be submitted to the donors at a later stage.