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Europe and Africa face major challenges in the fields of agriculture, food and the environment. In this context, the Inrae and CIRAD research centers and around thirty African organizations have launched a joint programme: “Transforming food systems and agriculture through research in partnership with Africa” (Tsara). Some representatives of these organizations were present at the International Agricultural Show in Paris. They explain the priorities they want to see highlighted.
This unprecedented large-scale research platform aims to strengthen scientific cooperation between the two continents and increase the impact of agronomic research. In Morocco, as in many countries on the continent, the country faces periods of intense drought and scarcity of water resources. Professor Mostafa Errahj from the National School of Agriculture in Meknes, highlights the need to find a new agricultural model.
« There is terrible pressure on natural resources. So it’s a form of transition by decelerating and then another form too, it’s preserving agro-ecological practices and forms of agriculture in North Africa which are quite respectful of the environment, but which are not enough productive, preciseMostafa Errahj. So there is still an intermediate situation to create, or to find a balance between the food needs linked to a galloping population, but also non-renewable natural resources which risk being endangered. Research and training have a very important role to play in informing and influencing public policies. »
Cameroonian agriculture relies on a network of small farmers. Doctor Noé Woin is the director of the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development. It emphasizes the need to better transmit technical advances to actors in the field. ” Adjustments are needed between the different actors so that these innovations are truly found at the level of the basic producer. It is a question of decompartmentalizing the disciplines in order to create synergies of action between the different agronomic disciplines. »
A transmission of research to actors in the field, but also to political decision-makers. The reflection must also focus on this issue, supports the South African professor Julian May, of the Center of Excellence for Food Security. ” I think there is also the question of: “What do we do with our research?“Too often, our research is left to the labs, we don’t think regarding how the research is going to translate into decision. The very nature of a scientist or a researcher means that they are not necessarily good at communicating their knowledge to the general public. We also saw it during the Covid epidemic, we stopped believing scientists because we talk in terms of probabilities, we don’t make promises. And that’s something that are not easy to understand for a decision-maker who is under pressure to do this or that. These are barriers that we must try to break down. »
Challenges will also arise. Succeeding in building symmetrical cooperation, for example, or aligning the objectives of these organizations with very different agendas.
