The three-pronged approach of the Medium-Term Plan 1989–1993 focused on the smallholder family farmer, decentralisation by the creation of satellites in key ecological zones and a 'farming systems orientation' permeating all of the Institute's research. Decentralisation was a major organisational change, which would involve the gradual transfer of research activities to three satellite stations: the Onne station, Cotonou substation, Central-South Cameroon. There remained a distinct separation of roles, with the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) being responsible for on-farm testing and dissemination, and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) taking the lead in technology generation. Attention shifted to herbaceous and woody legumes for fertility improvement and maintenance, focusing on the processes involved in nitrogen fixation and dry matter accumulation, the build-up of SOM and the role of the soil fauna mediating such processes. A favourable case was the work on tillage systems by the soil physics group, which was published for the general user in 1985.