SARA | CIRAD and AFD are working towards a sustainable, innovative African agricultural model

"Smart agriculture and technical innovations – which perspectives for African agriculture?" is the theme of the Salon international de l’Agriculture et des Ressources animales (SARA) to be held in Abidjan from 22 November to 1 December.

CIRAD and AFD will have a joint stand in the France Pavilion (Pavilion A), coordinated by Business France, along with some sixty other French private- and public-sector players. The theme for their stand is "Investing and innovating for sustainable family farming".

In addition to the stand, CIRAD and AFD will be contributing to the general French programme of activities at SARA, in partnership with various players from the public and private sectors and civil society. A series of conferences and round tables on topics such as digital agriculture, fair trade, geographical monitoring of deforestation and support of regional pastoral livestock production will serve to highlight and debate the experiences and initiatives of players in the field as regards sustainable agriculture and the agroecological transition in West Africa.

About AFD

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is a public financial institution that funds, supports and fosters transitions to a fairer, more sustainable world. It is a French public support platform for development and investment in sustainable development, and works with its partners to build shared solutions, with and for people in the global South. Its teams are involved in more than 4000 projects in the field, in the French overseas regions and 115 other countries, in favour of the commons shared by humankind – climate, biodiversity, peace, gender equality, education and health. AFD also contributes to the commitment made by France and the French people to the Sustainable Development Goals. Towards a world in common.

In West Africa, AFD has two regional offices covering the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea. The strategic objectives for the rural sector are balanced territorial development and creation of rural infrastructures, biodiversity and ecosystem preservation, and strengthened agricultural value chains that are both sustainable and resilient to climate change.

About CIRAD

The French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) is the French agricultural research and international cooperation organization working for the sustainable development of tropical and Mediterranean regions. Along with its partners, it is convinced that agriculture has a central role in the major transitions required to guarantee a sustainable future for every country in West Africa and beyond.

Amongst other things, its operations aim to boost the performance of family farms, to ensure food security, improved incomes and greater resilience to climate change, while using agroecological practices to foster the preservation and restoration of naturel and cultivated ecosystems.

CIRAD also has two regional offices in West Africa, one for the dry zone, in Dakar (Senegal), and the other for the forest and humid savannah zone, in Abidjan (Ivory Coast). Its zone of intervention covers nine coastal countries in the Gulf of Guinea, from Guinea to Nigeria.