I said at the outset that we were faced not with a single problem, but with a collection of problems. I'd like to walk through the individual problems, as I see them, in the hope of providing a framework for brainstorming solutions to them.

First of all, we have to identify what areas are mined. Demining is costly enough without wasting time searching unmined areas. We have to consider the various reasons mines are laid.

Identifying minefields and their nature often involves interviewing the local population and collecting information on where mine detonations have occurred.

South Africa has developed an effective program where air samples are collected by armoured vehicles in suspect areas and transported back to headquarters where trained dogs detect the presence of explosives.