Media resources

How can we provide healthy food to a global population of 10 billion by 2050, against a backdrop of climate change and increasing numbers of crises? This topic will be central to the celebration CIRAD is organizing to mark its 40th anniversary, at the ‪@lemondefr‬ newspaper's offices in Paris. The event, by invitation only, will bring together CIRAD's institutional partners: universities, ministries, and public- and private-sector donors. Scientists, policymakers and representatives from international institutions will be discussing the levers available to tackle the challenges posed by this question:

1. Accelerating agroecological transitions to address the global changes relating to climate and biodiversity
2. Intensifying the development and deployment of One Health approaches within socio-ecosystems
3. Transforming food systems and non-food biomass production systems.

In West Africa, agriculture has always played a key role. More than two thirds of the population works in agriculture today. In just a few decades, the agri-food sectors have become the fundamental cornerstone of the West African economy. The processing of agricultural products is a great accelerator of growth. Making products with added value not only enables producers to export to international markets, it also creates jobs, increases farmers’ incomes and reduces agricultural loss which in some regions accounts for half of the harvest. Today, a large number of entrepreneurs are involved in the processing of these raw materials. Yet, all of these businesses, primarily SMEs are severely curbed in their development. Access to energy, which is crucial to processing products, is very complex and a major challenge in this part of the world. In order to meet these SMEs’ energy needs, BioStar project has been launched in two pilot countries : Senegal and Burkina Faso. More informations : https://www.biostar-afrique.org/en

In response to agricultural production that is both too expensive and too low-yielding in relation to demand, Ivorian farmers are turning to agroecology. They are already obtaining more consistent outputs, richer soils and a wide variety of crops that give them greater income flexibility. CIRAD and its partners have been working with them in this area since 2019. To go further, as part of the MARIGO project, launched in 2022 and coordinated by CIRAD, scientists, trainers, producers and consumers will be pooling their knowledge and know-how over four years. The MARIGO project is funded by the European Union under the DeSIRA programme.

Further information: www.projet-marigo.org

CIRAD/Imagéo, 2023

In five rural regions of Tunisia, 4000 people from all walks of life have contributed to a vast participatory territorial planning process. CIRAD scientists are supporting the participatory and inclusive aspects of this programme. These participatory territorial planning operations are being carried out as part of the PACTE programme, which focuses on five governorates (Bizerte, Kairouan, Le Kef, Sidi Bouzid and Siliana). This project, coordinated by the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture since 2018, is improving governance of natural resources and helping rural territories adapt to climate change.

Further information on CIRAD's expertise in participatory processes: https://bit.ly/3KZ6b2f

© CIRAD, 2022

Over 20 million households in Nigeria depend on livestock for their food and livelihoods. To support this sector and contribute to the country's food security, the LIDISKI project is helping to improve surveillance and control of two animal diseases. Peste des petits ruminants causes almost $2 billion of damage each year in Nigeria, while the highly virulent Newcastle disease can wipe out entire flocks of chickens. The project's activities are designed with an integrated health approach.

More info: http://www.lidiski.org

© CIRAD, 2021

Demand for dairy products is currently increasing in Africa. However, dairies have problems sourcing local milk in terms of volume, regularity and quality. The Africa-Milk project supports the co-design and implementation of technical, organizational and institutional innovations to increase and secure local milk supplies in Senegal, Madagascar, Burkina Faso and Kenya.

More information: www.africa-milk.org

© CIRAD/Imagéo, 2021

More and more farmers are adopting agroecological practices, as here in Senegal. This new approach to agriculture is beginning to bear fruit. It is based on a range of technical solutions tailored to each territory and each crop. CIRAD and its partners are convinced that agroecology can provide a response to the challenges posed by climate change and population growth.

For more information: https://www.cirad.fr/en/our-activitie...

© CIRAD/Imagéo, 2021

Cocoa production in Africa today is threatened by climate change and disease. Within the framework of the #Cocoa4Future project, small producers and researchers are working in partnership to reinvent efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly cocoa farming systems.

© CIRAD/Imagéo, 2021