On 2 March 2022 at the Paris International Agricultural Show, CIRAD and Agronomes & Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (AVSF) signed a framework agreement aimed at enhancing their capacity for action research, innovation, and training to support rural populations and family farming in the global South. Building on complementary expertise, they will work together to help their partners to develop solutions that are in line with the major transitions underway (in agroecology, food, climate and health).
IRAD and Agronomes & Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (AVSF) wish to strengthen their collaboration in order to carry out projects with a participatory approach that address the needs and challenges of rural communities in the global South. The focus will be on the food security, environmental and health challenges facing socio-economic actors, in particular in family farming, research, training and the public authorities. To achieve this, CIRAD and AVSF will build on the complementarity of their operations, their expertise, their partnership networks in the global South, and the outcomes of their cooperation.
This agreement sets out the objectives of the global partnership between AVSF and CIRAD. The goal is to facilitate exchanges of knowledge, methodologies and tools, and joint research on priority innovation issues. The agreement also aims to foster: collaborations between consortiums involved in action research and expertise, and the search for funding; the impact of joint actions through their appropriate scaling (territories, sectors); the joint construction and dissemination of training modules; the development of advocacy and efforts to influence public action; and the exchange of knowledge between farmers.
“In recent years, teams from AVSF and CIRAD have expanded their collaboration around the sustainability of agricultural and livestock sectors, innovation in agroecology and the implementation of the One Health concept”, says Elisabeth Claverie de Saint Martin, CEO of CIRAD. “I am delighted to be part of this rich and productive partnership for the benefit of our partners in the global South”.
Frédéric Apollin, Director of AVSF, continues: “A growing number of action research programmes have begun. They reflect our shared desire to enhance our ability to work together in order to help our partners in the global South to address the major challenges of the ecological, economic and social transitions”.
Finally, this framework agreement is also in line with the strengthened ties between AVSF and CIRAD at the Jardin d’Agronomie Tropicale (Garden of Tropical Agronomy) site in Paris, in the context of the Cité du Développement Durable association (City of Sustainable Development), of which both organisations are members.
Examples of joint projects in the Sahel, Madagascar and Latin America
Fair Sahel (IntPa/Desira1 and AFD, 8.5m€, 2020) (Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal): AVSF: 439k€.
Agroecological intensification (AEI) to help producers in the Sahel to develop farming systems that are more resilient to climate hazards and to boost their food security.
Coordinated by CIRAD, with: IER (Mali), INERA (Burkina Faso), ISRA (Senegal), IRD (France) Wageningen University & Research (Netherlands), CSIC (Spain), Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, (Germany), AVSF (France), ENDA Pronat (Senegal).
Aminata (IntPa/Desira2, 2m€, 2021) (Mali) AVSF: 623k€.
Improving access to agricultural innovations for the agroecological transition.
Coordinated by CIRAD, with: AOPP ASSO.ORG.PROF.PAYSANNES (Mali), AVSF (France) and IER (Mali).
Dinamicc (IntPa/Desira3, 4.15m€, 2021) (Madagascar): AVSF: 68k€.
Integrated approaches and support for innovative, climate-resilient family farming in Madagascar.
Coordinated by CIRAD, with: FOFIFA, FERT, AVSF, AgriSud, FIFATA, CEFFEL, IRD, NGO Partage and APDRA.
TerrAmaz (AFD, 9.5m€, 2020): AVSF: 1.3m€.
In order to contribute to the fight against deforestation and the transition to sustainable modes of development, five territories in the Amazon region will receive support from the TerrAmaz project: Paragominas (Pará) and Cotriguaçu (Pará) in Brazil, Guaviare in Colombia, the buffer zone of the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador, and Madre De Dios in Peru.
Coordinated by CIRAD, with ONF-International and AVSF.
