This guide could not have been compiled without the efforts of many people. Thanks are due to the many company managers and directors around the world, who took trouble to reply to our letters and without whose information, photographs and diagrams there would be nothing to publish; also to the companies that responded but whose equipment was outside the scope of the guide. I would particularly like to thank the following people who have made a major contribution to the successful completion of this book: Ruth Fairman for organizing the equipment classification, the mailings to the companies and compiling the computer database; Ann Hampton for organizing the later stages of production, including editing and organizing the technical information, preparation of the introductory texts and commissioning artwork.
Thanks are also due to Jeremy Herklotz, Tim Ogborn and Richard Holloway for advice and guidance, to Matthew Whitton for preparing the artwork, to Jean Long of ITDG's photo library and to the FAO for photographs, to our colleagues at the Groupe de Recherche et d'Echanges Technologiques (GRET) for sharing their technical information, to Paul Senescall for technical editing, to Ros Patching for editing the manuscript, and to other staff in ITDG for their support and assistance throughout.
Finally I am particularly grateful to those who provided financial support for the preparation and publication of the guide, notably the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA), the Overseas Aid Committee of the States of Jersey and the Overseas Development Administration of the British Government.
