2020 Annual Report CIRAD is the French CONTENTS agricultural research and international cooperation organization working for EDITORIAL 3 the sustainable development 2020 PANORAMA 4 of tropical and Mediterranean regions. PORTFOLIO 6 CIRAD works with its partners to build COVID-19 SPECIAL 12 knowledge and solutions and invent resilient farming systems for a more sustainable, inclusive world. It mobilizes SCIENCE & TRAINING 20 science, innovation and training in order to achieve the Sustainable Development PARTNERSHIPS 36 Goals. Its expertise supports the entire range of stakeholders, from producers GOVERNANCE & STRATEGY 42 to public policymakers, to foster biodiversity protection, agroecological transitions, food system sustainability, 2020 INDICATORS 48 health (of plants, animals and ecosystems), sustainable development of rural territories, CIRAD IN THE MEDIA 53 and their resilience to climate change. GENERAL ORGANIZATION 54 CIRAD was founded in 1984 as a public establishment (EPIC), following a merger (as of 16 June 2021) of French tropical agricultural research organizations, and is under the joint CIRAD RESEARCH UNITS 56 authority of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. ADDRESSES 57 As such, it supports French science diplomacy operations. KEY FIGURES 58 < 2 > 2020 CIRAD Annual Report EDITORIAL Adapting in response to crisis obody could have imagined the tionship with society as a whole”. In unprecedented crisis that struck the particular, this means a 25 billion-euro Nworld in 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic, increase in the State budget over ten years, which triggered a health crisis on a scale with a million euros added to CIRAD’s budget never seen before, has turned our lives upside down. It has had a substantial impact in 2021. We have not seen this type of on CIRAD, as the reduction, if not the total increase for a decade. halt in international travel has prevented us from pursuing some of our operations in 2021: new governance, tropical and Mediterranean countries. How- ever, thanks to the presence and determina- a packed international agenda, tion of our expatriate teams, who have and sustained job creation remained on the ground alongside our part- ners, we have been able to sustain our coop- I must mention my predecessor, Michel Eddi, eration and continue to fulfil at least some who is leaving us after two terms at the helm of our contractual activities. All over the of CIRAD. The transition scheduled for 2021 world, CIRAD’s staff have shown themselves has been prepared confidently and calmly. to be both resilient and adaptable. In France, The coming changes to our Board of Direc- every effort has been made to switch to teleworking, while maintaining those activ- tors will allow us to grasp the opportunities ities that require an onsite presence (in lab- open to us in terms of boosting CIRAD’s oratories, greenhouses, etc.). Between visibility and cementing its reputation, nota- lockdowns, our installations, processes and bly through top-level global events such as campuses in Montpellier, Nogent-sur-Marne COP26 (climate), COP15 (biodiversity), and © A. Calais and Paris have been reorganized to allow our the One Planet Summit, for which CIRAD staff to return to work safely. That resilience, Élisabeth Claverie combined with budgetary support from the played an active part in drafting two major State, has enabled us to end the financia proposals, including the creation of a One de Saint Martin, year with a positive result. Health High-level Expert Panel. CIRAD CEO Counterbalancing the crisis: This year’s unmissable events also include the European Green Deal and the the IUCN World Conservation Congress in French research programming act Marseilles in May, the Africa-France Summit in Montpellier in October – including specifi 2020 was a good year in other ways, with a days organized by MUSE with which CIRAD context favouring public development aid and our priority research topics, in both will be closely associated –, and the UN Food France and Europe. It saw the launch of the Systems Summit. Within CIRAD, the sus- European Green Deal, a road map intended tained drive to create jobs should lead to a to make the European economy sustainable new rise in staff numbers by late 2021. The by turning climate and environmental chal- marked drop in the number of expatriate lenges into opportunities. This ambitious staff members calls for strong measures, but policy, backed by substantial resources, is particularly important for CIRAD in that agri- the agreement on staff mobility signed cultural research and innovation are core recently between management and staff issues. In France, the adoption of the representatives should go some way towards research programming act, setting objec- correcting matters. It should trigger a tives for 2021-2030, also bodes well for dynamic that will be crucial in fulfilling our CIRAD. The declared ambition is to “fund and assess public research more effectively, remit and implementing our projects. Fin- make the research professions more attrac- gers crossed that it will soon be facilitated tive, and put science back in an open rela- by a resumption in international travel! 2020 CIRAD Annual Report < 3 > 2020 PANORAMA JANUARY launched the World Musa Alliance at the Fruit Logistica Salon in Berlin on 6 February, in the aim of associating stakeholders CIRAD and INRAE renew their Joint Support Unit for Interna- in order to find rapid solutions to this threat to banana pro- tional Relations. INRAE President Philippe Mauguin and CIRAD duction worldwide. President Managing Director Michel Eddi signed a four-year renewal on 27 January for the CIRAD-INRAE Joint Support Unit for International Relations (UMA-RI). The signing reflect their determination to step up international partnerships Pl@ntnet is here to stay. Ten years after the launch of the between the two research organizations. collaborative plant identification platform, which has millions of users, its four founder members (CIRAD, INRAE, INRIA and IRD) have set up a consortium to safeguard its future. The consortium, which is led by INRIA, and with which Agropolis Fondation is also associated, is open to new members. FEBRUARY Climate change: modelling to anticipate impacts Down with chemical pesticides; The second edition of the International Crop Modelling Sym- posium (iCROPM2020), held in Montpellier from 3 to 5 Feb- European research is taking a stand ruary, attracted 400 crop modelling specialists from all over CIRAD is one of the signatories of the declaration of intent the world. The symposium, organized by CIRAD, INRAE and “Towards a Chemical Pesticide-free Agriculture” formalized INRIA with the support of MUSE I-SITE and #DigitAg, was by 24 European research organizations at the Paris Interna- particularly relevant in the current context of global climate tional Agricultural Show on 23 February. The declaration was change and increased pressure on agricultural production. driven by INRAE (France) and its German counterparts ZALF Participants focused on recent improvements to and new and JKI, and intends to pool research efforts aimed at accel- applications for crop simulation models, aimed at supporting erating the agroecological transition in Europe, in line with a agricultural production and food security against a backdrop shared vision of a synthetic pesticide-free agriculture. CIRAD of climate change. will be contributing as regards the issue in the ultraperipheral regions, particularly the French overseas regions, where it has already been working on the topic for several years. The declaration cements the establishment of a European Agriculture and biodiversity feature research alliance, to contribute to the European Green Deal. at the Paris International Agricultural Show Biodiversity took centre stage on the joint stand produced by CIRAD and AFD, two major players in research and funding for development in the global South, from 22 to 29 February. MARCH Activities, professional meetings and conferences were organized to point the finger at intensive farming, which Gender-SMART: CIRAD is walking the walk poses a threat to biodiversity. Visitors were able to discover on gender equality agricultural models that take account of every element of the CIRAD has unveiled its institutional action plan for gender living world, to conserve that biodiversity. The stand also equality. The plan is the fruit of the organization’s involve- welcomed institutional partners and representatives from ment in the EU H2020 Gender-SMART project on gender different horizons with an interest in biodiversity and farming. issues in agricultural and life sciences. CIRAD has committed An area of the stand was devoted to training, partnerships to make gender equality an integral part of how it operates. and recruitment. It is also including gender in its scientific and partnership strategy. The plan is built around three pillars and 25 objec- tives, including a gender balance in every profession, and equal pay. Several analysis, training and support operations An alliance against Panama disease are already under way. TR4 fusarium wilt is threatening to devastate banana planta- tions. The disease arrived very recently in Latin America, which accounts for 80% of global dessert banana exports. This incurable disease, also known as Panama disease (trop- ical race 4), is spreading rapidly, and Cavendish varieties, which provide 100% of export dessert bananas, do not stand a chance. In view of the urgency of the situation, CIRAD < 4 > 2020 CIRAD Annual Report 2020 PANORAMA Agritrop is second in the French institutional open archive in Saint-Pierre de la Réunion. By the time it opens in 2022, rankings. With 28 900 documents indexed by the academic the 3P extension will have almost 1000 m2 of brand-new search engine Google Scholar, the CIRAD publications open laboratories, 1000 m2 of offic space and conference rooms, archive, Agritrop, is second in the French institutional repos- and 400 m2 for a biotechnology hall, all built with sustainable itories rankings, for the third year running, behind the HAL- development concerns in mind.