The CILSS (French acronym for “Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel”) regional crop protection training centre in Niger provides a 2-year training programme in crop protection for middle-level field technicians as one of its major activities. The training is open to candidates from all the nine CILSS member countries. It deals with all aspects of plant protection. The success of this training programme depends to a great extent, on a well-formulated and objective-oriented programme catered to the backgrounds and needs of the trainees. As insect pests are an important limiting factor in agricultural production in the Sahel, the entomology subjects constitute an important part of the programme. This paper describes the contents of the entomology programme and strategies and constraints in its delivery. The future role of applied research in supporting and strengthening this programme is also outlined.
