Governing bodies and committees

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is the governance body that sets the broad outlines of CIRAD's operations. It deliberates on a range of strategic, scientific, budgetary and financial topics, such as the establishment's budget and accounts, how it operates and its activity programme, research and procurement contracts to be signed, and general organizational, recruitment and staff pay conditions. It is chaired by CIRAD's CEO.

The Board of Trustees has three types of members: State representatives, distinguished external experts, and representatives elected by CIRAD's staff. There are five State representatives: one for each of CIRAD's two line ministries – the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation –, and one from each of the following: the Ministry for the Economy and Finance, the Ministry of French Overseas Regions, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. This group is supplemented by six distinguished external experts recognized both in France and elsewhere for their expertise in research and cooperation for development, and six representatives elected by and from CIRAD's staff.

The Board of Trustees meets on average four times a year. Its eighteen members are elected or appointed for five years.

Chair: Élisabeth Claverie de Saint Martin

Members:

State representatives

• Jean Albergel
  Representing the Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation
• Benoit Bonaimé
  Representing the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
• Julien Astoul-Delseny
  Representing the Ministry of French Overseas Regions
• Clélia Chevrier-Kolacko
  Representing the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs
• Agathe Rolland
  Representing the Ministry for the Economy and Finance

Distinguished experts

• Thierry Blandinières
  Managing Director of the agricultural cooperative group In Vivo
• Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko
  African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture
• Philippe Mauguin
  President, Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (INRAE)
• Valérie Verdier
  Chairman of the Board and CEO, IRD
• Bertrand Walckenaer
  Deputy Director General, Agence française de développement (AFD)

Elected representatives

• Thomas Balenghien
  Staff representative
• Nathalie Cialdella
  Staff representative
• Françoise Gérard
  Staff representative
• François-Régis Goebel
  Staff representative
• Thibaud Martin
  Staff representative
• Laurence Ollivier
  Staff representative

Participants as of right, in an advisory capacity

• Béatrice Avot
  Controller for Economy and Finance, Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation
• Anthony Farisano 
  Director General in charge of Resources and Organization, CIRAD
• Pierre Defaut
  Secretary, Works Council, CIRAD
• Yves Delmas
  Auditor

Secretary:

Alexandrine Rey

Science Council

The Science Council assists CIRAD's President Managing Director. It is consulted about CIRAD's research and study programmes. It makes statements on their content and operating methods. It may make proposals concerning research strategy. It gives its opinion on the creation or dissolution of scientific departments. It is backed by the assessments of research units conducted by the Agence d'évaluation de la recherche et de l'enseignement supérieur. It produces an annual report that is submitted to the Board of Trustees. The responsibilities of the Science Council are set out in the current version of Decree no. 84-429 dated 5 June 1984 confirming the founding and structure of CIRAD.

The Science Council comprises:

• ten French and foreign scientific experts, including at least eight from outside CIRAD, appointed by the Minister of Research and the Minister for Cooperation and Development;
• five members elected by CIRAD's staff.

Science Council members have a three-year term of office, which may be renewed.

Chair: Gilles Kleitz, Executive Director for Sustainable Development, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) (Paris, France)

Secretaries: Marie de Lattre-Gasquet (UMR Art-Dev) and Alexia Prades (DGD-RS)

Appointed members

• Philippe Baret
  Professor of Genetics, Systems Analysis and Agroecology, Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium)
• Carole Caranta
  Deputy Director General of Science and Innovation, INRAE (Paris, France)
• Dao The Anh
  Vice-President, Vietnamese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS)
• Diana Fernandez
  Researcher, IRD, Plant Health Institute Montpellier (PHIM), (Montpellier, France)
• Anyangwe Florence Angaba - Fonteh
  Professor, Dschang University, Vice-Dean for Research and Cooperation, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Bamenda (Cameroon)
• Catia Grisa
  Tutor and researcher, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) (Porto Alegre, Brazil)
• Olivier Gros
  University Professor of Biology of Organisms, University of the French Antilles
• Tahiana Ramananantoandro
  Head, Department of Forestry and Environment, École supérieure des sciences agronomiques (ESSA), University of Antananarivo (Madagascar)
• Joe Tohme
  Director, Crops for Nutrition and Health Programme, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (Cali, Colombia)

Elected staff representatives

• Pierre Brat (UMR QualiSud, Montpellier)
• William's Daré (UMR SENS, Montpellier), Vice-Chair of the Science Council
• Driss Ezzine de Blas (UPR Forests and Societies, Bogota)
• Paule Moustier (UMR MOISA, Montpellier)
• Virginie Ravigne (UMR PHIM, Montpellier)

INRAE-CIRAD-IFREMER-IRD Committee on Ethics in Agricultural Research

The Committee on Ethics in Agricultural Research, set up by CIRAD and INRAE (ex-INRA) in October 2007, has a remit to discuss, advise, raise awareness and if necessary raise the alarm. It extended its activities to include IFREMER in April 2016, and IRD in October 2019. It examines ethical questions raised by research activities and the research process in the fields of food, agriculture, the sea, the environment and sustainable development, particularly those that concern the relationships between science and society. It has published 12 statements, available on our website. The latest concerns genetic modification of animals in the light of genome editing.

As of 1 December 2020, the INRA-CIRAD-IFREMER-IRD Committee on Ethics in Agricultural Research has 12 members, appointed by joint decision by the Presidents of INRAE, CIRAD, IFREMER, and IRD.

Chair: Michel Badré, ingénieur général des Ponts, des Eaux et des Forêts, member of the Board of Trustees of the Humanité et biodiversité association, member of the Conseil économique, social, et environnemental from 2015 to 2021 (Vice-Chair from 2018 to 2021 representing the group of environmental associations), member of the special commission for public debate and Chair since 2020 of the "orientations" commission of the National Radioactive Materials and Waste Management Plan; former Chair of the Environmental Authority (2009-2014).

Vice-Chair: Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Emeritus Professor, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

Members

• Madeleine Akrich
  Director of Research, Center for Sociology of Innovation, Mines ParisTech
• Céline Boudet
  Scientific Coordinator; specialist in health and environmental risk analysis (epidemiology, toxicology, bio-statistics), Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (INERIS)
• Catherine Boyen
  Director of Research, CNRS; doctor of plant biology; Director, Roscoff Biological Station
• Denis Couvet
  Agronomist; Professor, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle; Chair, Fondation pour la recherche sur la biodiversité
• Mireille Dosso
  Director, Institut Pasteur, Ivory Coast; Professor of Microbiology
• Mark Hunyadi
  Professor of social and political philosophy, Catholic University of Louvain; associate professor, Institut des mines Télécom Paris and EHESS; member, Orange Ethics Committee
• Louis-Etienne Pigeon
  Environmental ethics philosopher; doctor of philosophy from the Faculty of Philosophy, Université Laval (Québec, Canada); lecturer, Université Laval
• Marie-Geneviève Pinsart
  Philosopher; professor, Centre de recherches interdisciplinaires en bioéthique, Free University of Brussels (Belgium); member of the IRD Consultative Ethics Committee for Research in Partnership (CCERP)
• Pere Puigdomènech
  Professor, Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Barcelona, specializing in plant molecular biology
• Yokouba Sokona
  Professor; IPCC Vice-Chair in 2015; Executive Secretary, Sahara and Sahel Observatory; co-founder, ENDA TM Energy Programme; Coordinator, African Climate Policy Centre
• Hervé Théry
  Geographer, associate professor, University of Sao Paulo (Brazil)

The secretariat of the Committee is provided jointly by the four organizations, with INRAE administrative support:

• INRAE: Christine Charlot, General Secretary, supported by Nathalie Hermet
• CIRAD: Philippe Feldmann, Marie de Lattre-Gasquet
• IFREMER: Philippe Goulletquer, Marianne Alunno-Bruscia
• IRD: Chloé Desmots