The number of illiterates in Africa is increasing, thereby lending urgency to the need for universal adult education and functional literacy compaigns, according to chapter 1 of this detailed research report. Chapter 2 discusses the meaning, history, and nature of adult education in other countries (briefly), and in Africa (in greater detail). Chapter 3 deals with diagnosing the problem of illiteracy, its causes and cures, putting Africa in a global perspective. The author notes the strong correlation between excessive population growth and illiteracy on the one hand, and illiteracy and poverty on the other, making illiteracy part of a viscious circle. One way to break the circle, the author sees, lies in treating literacy as a "possible dream" in an educational system serving as an instrument of social transformation, just as Freire advocates doing. Chapter 4 describes literacy campaigns of the past, the shift in emphasis from traditional to functional literacy, and the mass projects undertaken in Cuba, Vietnam, and the USSR. The author also discusses the five-year UNESCO Experimental World Literacy Program which called for local initiative with international assistance. Examples and trends at work in Africa today comprise the body of chapter 5, with special focus on Tanzania's basic primers. The final chapter contains observations and recommendations, broken down into categories, and the table of contents of the report's continuation (part 2). The appendix includes a comparative statistical analysis of African countries. (CP)