Following recent discussions in the ASA Council, pressing the need for more frequent one-day symposia than has been the practise in the past, on Saturday, 17th March, Dr. Paul Richards and Dr. Shula Marks organised a symposium devoted to a discussion on the role of science and technology in the development of African agriculture. Planned in the belief that a key function of the African Studies Association is to bring together natural and social scientists, the debate raised a number-of issues of central concern. Despite the short notice with which it was organised, and a snow blizzard which hit much of the country the previous day, some sixty members and students participated, drawn from as far afield as Aberdeen and Edinburgh.