Sorghum and millet are important food grains in many lesser developed countries; yet the socioeconomic constraints on their production and use are poorly understood. This chapter describes the contribution of a group of economic and ecological anthropologists based at the University of Kentucky to a multilateral agricultural research project sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (AID). AID missions were accustomed to supervising projects of their own proposing, whereas the collaborative research support programs were creatures of AID headquarters in Washington, D.C. Increasing the productivity and welfare of limited-resource farmers is a long-term proposition. It is too soon to demonstrate gains in sorghum or millet production and utilization in either Sudan or Honduras as a result of the redirected research efforts that have been helped along by the farming systems research Group. Farming systems research is a methodology in search of a theory.