Institut de recherche pour le développement
Annual
report
2011
INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE POUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT
ontents
Introduction
• 04 The IRD around the world
• 07 Key figures 2011
• 05 Editorial
• 08 The 2011-2015 State - IRD objectives contract
• 06 The IRD in a nutshell - Highlights of 2011 • 09 Ethics and quality
10 • Working in partnership
• 12 International partnerships
• 16 Events around the world
18 • Excellence in research
• 20 Research focused on the South
• 30 Improving public health in the South
• 23 Preserving the environment and resources • 34 Understanding social evolution in the South
38 • The Agence inter-établissements de recherche pour le développement
• 40 The AIRD: mobilising for the South • 46 Innovating with the South
• 42 The research programmes
• 48 Sharing knowledge
• 44 Capacity-building in the South
50 • Resources
• 52 Human resources
• 56 The information system - Parity at the IRD
• 54 Financial resources • 57 Platforms open to partners
58 • Appendices
• 60 The IRD decision bodies
• 61 Central services : our gallery
• 62 The research units
• 64 IRD addresses world-wide
4
Annual report 2011
The IRD around the world
Annual report 2011
edito
Editorial
2011 has been an excellent year for developments in the IRD organisation. These include the new contractual objectives for
2011-2015, which give the Institute a solid foundation that enables us to have a serene outlook on our future. In addition, the
establishment of the AIRD (Agence inter-établissements de recherche pour le développement) and the services they provide
within the IRD have greatly assisted us in our task of coordinating French research into development.
With an unshakeable focus on the South, the IRD and the AIRD have developed activities based on three pillars of knowledge:
capacity building, research and innovation, working directly with our partners. Because partnerships are the epicentre of our
operation, we have created the following new instruments: the mixed international laboratories (LMI) and the regional pilot
programmes (PPR). The culmination of this initiative is the Partnership Charter, which is now attached to every agreement
signed with the IRD and the AIRD, in order to ensure standard practices that guarantee a better sharing of knowledge. These
initiatives are strong indicators of the Institute’s partnership policy.
With our excellence in research, proven by the positive evaluations received from our units and the increase in scientific output
from our researchers, the IRD has truly found its place within national research policy and the European research environment.
Seventy percent of our units are linked to the "Investissements d'avenir" programme, and funding for research contracts is
increasing.
With scientific projects responding to major planetary challenges, the Institute is reinforcing its role as a motivating force for
research in the South. Climate change, desertification, preservation of water resources, food safety, tropical diseases and social
transformations in Southern countries are all at the heart of our research. The Rio+20
United Nations conference will be a major opportunity in 2012 to renew our commitment
to sustainable development and in particular to the fight against desertification in Africa.
This is how the IRD and the AIRD are contributing to social, economic and cultural
development in our partner countries, through activities in, for the benefit of and in
collaboration with the South, helping to strengthen their skills.
Michel LAURENT
Chairman
5
6
Annual report 2011
The IRD in a nutshell
The IRD is a French public sector institution working in the fields of science and
technology, and entirely dedicated to research into development. It is jointly
governed by the French ministries for research and development.
Operating from headquarters in Marseille, with two further French mainland
sites in Bondy and Montpellier, we are active in over fifty countries, in Africa,
around the Mediterranean basin and in Latin America, Asia and the French
tropical overseas territories. The IRD seeks to confront the major challenges
standing in the way of development by carrying out research, capacity building
and innovation missions in Southern countries - for their benefit and in
partnership with them.
Based on an interdisciplinary approach, the projects run with our partners
address issues of crucial importance for the South: tropical and lifestyle diseases,
food safety, climate change, water resources, biodiversity, social development,
vulnerability, and inequality, migration… with the background aim of achieving
the Millennium Development Goals.
The AIRD, now part of the IRD, is the French inter-establishment research
agency for development, bringing together a group of French higher education
and research establishments who dedicate their activities, in full or in part, to
overseas development. It is a mobilising organisation that aims to coordinate and
encourage national and European research efforts in the field of development.
Highlights of 2011
Declaration of Niamey
Tuam’2011
January
• Launch of the new
Montabo international
campus in Cayenne,
French Guiana
• Launch of the joint IRDCNRS representation, and
Erafrica in South Africa
• Annual PopPov
Conference on Population,
Reproductive Health, and
Economic Development,
Marseille
February / March
• The Burkina Faso
Information Centre for
research and development
celebrates its 10th birthday
• Thierry Lebel and Jean-Luc
Redelsperger are awarded
a silver medal by the
CNRS for their work on
the African monsoon
CapMédiTrop opening
April / May
• Tuam’2011 mission:
biodiversity study in
French Polynesia
• Signing of the Sustainable
Development Charter
Mbour IRD centre/Senegal
June / July
• Delivery of the results of
the Santo 2006 mission in
Vanuatu
• Delivery of the results of
the Santo 2006 mission in
Vanuatu
• Creation of the
Bond’Innov business
incubator in Bondy
Christian Le Provost Award
August / September
• Opening of the AIMSSenegal Institute of
Mathematical Sciences
• Launch of the
CapMédiTrop platform,
dedicated to tropical and
Mediterranean plants
cultivated in Montpellier
October
• Delivery of the findings
from the RIPIESCA
programme on the
interaction between
ecosystems, climate and
society in West Africa
• Closing seminars of the
CORUS and AIRES-Sud
programmes in Paris
• Adoption of the Niamey
Declaration against
desertification
• Creation of the CNEV
(French national
repository for information
about vectors) in
Montpellier
Desertification / Libya
November / December
• Sophie Cravatte is
awarded the Christian Le
Provost Grand Prize from
the Académie des Sciences
• First meeting of the AIRD
Orientation committee
(COrA)
• Regional extension to
the Cousteau Marine and
Coastal Observatory for
Central America and Costa
Rica
Annual report 2011
Key figures 2011
A budget of
2,176
e232.9m
staff members, including
171
bursaries allocated to scientists,
e31.2m
revenue from
conventions and approved products
837
researchers,
997engineers and technicians and 342 local staff
including
37%
51%
Almost
France, of which
122
44
new teams
supported in the South
of staff outside mainland
are in Africa and the Mediterranean
150
long-duration missions
56
research consortiums and
1,556
4
70%
observatories
scientific publications,
corresponding to roughly 2 articles per researcher per year
for theses
of units linked to the
“investissements d’avenir”
funding scheme
45%
More than
100
co-authored with Southern partners
patents held
40,600
hours of training
7
8
Annual report 2011
The 2011-2015 State-IRD objectives contract
The objectives contract guarantees coherence between the organisation’s
policies and national policy. It provides a framework, by detailing objectives
and arranging them according to programmes for action with the aim of
promoting research in the South. It also exists to attract and affiliate national
and European research, training and innovation potential to work in the field
of development. As such, the objectives contract focuses on 4 major priorities
for the organisation, listed below.
Research in partnership with the South
In order to allow Southern countries to take on a full role in any partnership, the
IRD encourages the co-creation of research programmes according to demand
from the South. The IRD is also committed to reinforcing the support given
to its Southern partners in terms of administration of research programmes
as well as for the research itself. Symposia and conferences are organised in
developing countries in order to facilitate the delivery of research results to
stakeholders and contribute to social-scientific dialogue. Lastly, the IRD is
committed to improving promotion and co-publication of shared results. A
partnership charter will be drawn up in direct consultation with Southern
partners.
Become an operator delivering Finalized
Becoming in order to meet global challenges
in the developing world
Interdisciplinary research programmes will be co-created and
conducted in partnership, for the social, environmental and
healthcare issues which are the IRD's priorities. The IRD is adding
its weight to the troubled resources in the developing world,
giving priority to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean basin.
An international network of research operations is developed
through our local structures, platforms, observatories and shared
laboratories.
Cooperation / Brazil
Structuring and
developing the Agency
The AIRD is responsible for initiating
strategic discussion of science to aid
development, placing the developing
countries’ needs at the heart of
partnerships, and respecting the IRD's
policy of partnerships "in the South,
with the South and for the South". The
Agency supports research programmes
and projects that focus on developing and
improving knowledge and skills. Sharing of
French scientific resources with the South
will be supported by the deployment of
an expatriation gateway, joint operations and instruments including incubators
and scientific platforms.
Adapting governance to the Institute's missions
The new structural organisation of the headquarters has been in place since
January 2011. Three Management Divisions for Science, the Agency and Resources,
and the Geostrategy and partnership department ensure overall coherence
and favour operator/agency relations. Human resources policy, based on the
development of skills and professions, will be defined, planned and supported by
forward-looking management of jobs and skills. In order to improve accounting
quality, a management control system will be implemented, using analytic
accounting, adapted to work development in project mode, in addition to the
application of full costs. The information system will also develop in order to
better meet the requirements in running the Institute, particularly as an Agency.
Annual report 2011
Ethics and
quality
CCDE committee
The ethical issues at the heart of partnerships
The Quality and the Sustainable Development
Research into development is carried out in cooperation with Southern countries.
This cooperation replies to a principle of equality that is not always obvious in
an international context shaped by a high degree of competitiveness in the
fields of science and technology. Thus it seems crucial to clarify a few principles
that must be respected. The CCDE (consultation committee on professional
conduct and ethics) has assisted in developing the code of professional ethics
for the IRD and partners’ activities.
Active since 2008 across the Institute, the ISO 9001 quality procedure affects
almost all activities at the headquarters and our main centres and delegations.
We can now offer full, tailored supervision to participating structures: raising
awareness, training, conceptual assistance and practice at different stages of the
process, IT tools for networked activity, and financial assistance for certification.
As such, 40 IRD laboratories and administrative entities are engaged in quality
procedures, among which 16 have already received ISO9001 certification.
The objective is to offer users fluid, efficient and easily-understood research
support services. Joining Montpellier and Dakar, IRD France North has had 4 of
its centres certified. The IRD’s network of quality specialists is working at many
of our sites, particularly in West Africa. Some research units like the 216 research
consortium "Mother and child health in the tropics" have also begun certifying
their activities in order to improve efficiency and management of their skills
and resources. The internationally-recognised ISO 9001 certification is also an
important attribute in an increasingly competitive environment for our research
teams.
In particular, the committee has been working on questions relating to
transgenic crop technologies, biosecurity, a study protocol for malaria and a
series of research protocols for mother and infant health in the field of HIV. It
has also initiated general discussion on GMOs.
The CCDE regularly coordinates seminars and workshops open to researchers
and their partners, to enable the broadest participation possible in ethical
discussions. With this aim, the "Precautionary and scientific research principles
in Southern countries" symposium was organised in Casablanca. In parallel, the
CCDE has developed a distance training module on 'increasing awareness of
ethical subjects’ in partnership with Southern countries.
The committee has also developed tools that enable simplified application of
professional ethical codes to enable researchers to better develop their practice
and allow ethical concepts to infiltrate the scientific community. As part of this
objective, the "Good practice guide for research and development" has been
updated and a publication on the "ethics of partnerships in the IRD's scientific
research" is currently being finalized.
9
In addition, the IRD has signed the "Public sector sustainable development
charter". This strategic commitment forms the departure point for the social
responsibility initiative that the IRD will deploy in 2012 and 2013 with all
stakeholders across all of our structures, in order to better appreciate the
impacts of our decisions and activities on communities and the environment.
Chairman: Ali BENMAKHLOUF
Doctor of Philosophy, Professor
of Philosophy at Paris XII
University.
Tereza Maciel LYRA, Doctor,
research-fellow at the Aggeu
Magalhães research facility
and the Pernambuco University
medical faculty, Brazil.
Amadou lamine NDIAYE,
Veterinary doctor, Honorary
Rector at the Gaston BergerSaint Louis University, Senegal.
President of the African
Academy of Science (AAS).
Jean-Claude ANDRE, Senior
Engineer from the Ponts et
Chaussées, contributing
member of the Académie des
sciences, Toulouse.
Roger GUEDJ, Professor
Emeritus at the University of
Nice Sophia Antipolis.
Vladimir de SEMIR,Associate
Professor of scientific journalism
at the Pompeu Fabra University
in Barcelona.
Sandrine CHIFFLET, IRD
Research engineer, UMR 213,
Aix-Marseille University.
Marie-Danièle DEMELAS,
Professor of history at Paris III
University.
Bernard TAVERNE,
anthropologist, researcher,
UMI 233, Senegal.
Malaria survey / Benin
Safety in the workplace / Réunion
Contacts:
ccde@ird.fr
qualite@ird.fr
10
Annual report 2011
Annual report 2011
Working in
partnership
• 12 International partnerships
• 16 Events around the world
11
12
Annual report 2011
International partnerships
The IRD has consolidated its position among the research and higher education establishments of the South, and has adapted its network of local structures in order to reinforce regional activities. Six regional offices(1) have been
created, managed by regional coordinators. These coordinators contribute to
the development of partnerships with supranational, European and/or international institutions present in the region. In addition, this development has
led to the inclusion of the French overseas territories into each respective
regional division, to better understand their geographic context and their
strategic position in terms of territorial influence.
Mediterranean
region
Despite the dramatic events at the start
of 2011 in the southern Mediterranean,
several agreements were signed with
local scientific partners, including
the Institut national d’agronomie in
Tunisia, and the Direction générale
de la recherche et du développement
technologique in Algeria. In addition,
the IRD and the CNRS have both
signed a joint agreement with a Syrian
research partner.
Water management / Morocco
Contact:
geostrategie@ird.fr
In addition to this bilateral dimension,
the IRD is continuing its work in the
Mediterranean assisting with major
projects, in particular the MISTRALS(2)
and CMRST(3) projects. As such, a
partnership has been created with several French research organisations (the
CNRS, Inra and Cemagref(4)) and two German funding associations, to promote
the development of shared platforms that will enable a measurement of
the impact of climate change and the exploitation of water resources in the
Mediterranean.
West and Central Africa
The IRD has developed numerous partnerships in these regions, with the aim
of combating desertification. The Institute has thus joined the programme led
by the Agence Panafricaine de la Grande Muraille Verte (APGMV) in order to
combat desertification in the Sahelian belt, which runs through 11 countries, all
signatories of the project: Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger, Nigeria,
Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. This will enable the funding of
operational programmes for agroforestry, land restoration and pastoralism, and
the creation of monitoring and management systems. In addition, the IRD has
renewed its partnership with the Sahara and Sahel Observatory, which works on
a global scale in the fight against desertification.
On the same topic, the IRD, APGMV and the
Brazilian Centre for Management and Strategic
Studies organised an international conference in
Niamey, “For sustainable development of drylands
in Africa” (ICID+19 in Africa), in collaboration
with the government in the Republic of Niger.
This conference led to the adoption of the
Niamey Declaration, delivered to the preparatory
Congo basin
committee of the United Nations ahead of the
Rio+20 sustainable development conference in
June 2012.
In Senegal, the African Institute for mathematical
sciences (AIMS-Senegal) is located on the IRD site
within the International research and teaching
centre in Mbour. AIMS is a Pan-African platform
dedicated to teaching and research, whose aim
is to train the continent's scientific elite and
prepare for the emergence of a new generation of
entrepreneurs in economic sectors with significant
added value.
Erosion/ Niger
(1) North Africa and the Middle East; West and Central Africa; East and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean; South America, Central America and the Caribbean; South-East Asia; South Pacific.
(2) Mediterranean integrated studies at regional and local scale.
(3) Centre méditerranéen de recherche scientifique et technologique.
(4) Now IRSTEA.
Annual report 2011
Lastly, the IRD has signed agreements with the National Institute of Statistics
in Mali and the National parks agency in Gabon. It was in that country that
the President of the Institute participated in the first strategic orientation
committee for the SEAS-Gabon project. This satellite reception station has
notably enabled the monitoring of forests in the Congo basin, in liaison with
the Gabonese Spatial Study and Observation Agency and the Brazilian National
Institute for Space Research. The commissioning of a new technical platform for
the direct reception of satellite images, and the creation of a remote detection
skills centre for the sustainable management of forest ecosystems in Gabon and
in Central Africa, will encourage significant scientific progress in this immense
forest zone.
East Africa, Southern Africa
and the Indian Ocean
of land, marine and coastal
development, the management
of natural risks, epidemiological
surveillance and biodiversity and
climate change monitoring.
At the same time, in order to
reinforce cooperation in the
marine environment sector,
new agreements have been
signed with the French Southern
and Antarctic Lands and the
Association réunionnaise pour le
développement de l’aquaculture.
New collaborations have been established, notably with the
higher education and research ministry in the Republic of
Djibouti, and the South African National Research Foundation.
The IRD has also strengthened its activity with the United
Nations Environment Programme, which has its headquarters
in Nairobi.
Coastline / Réunion
The Niamey Declaration
SEAS-OI Antenna / Réunion
In South Africa, the IRD and the CNRS have inaugurated their
first joint operation in Africa (it is their second worldwide; the
first is in Santiago, Chile). The aim is to broaden the activities
of the two institutions and to give them a better regional
visibility.
In Réunion, the IRD is engaged in a satellite-enhanced
environmental monitoring project for the Indian Ocean (SEASOI), in partnership with the University of Réunion. Construction
has been completed of a reception station for high-density
satellite images. Applications will be developed in the fields
Agroforest / Ethiopia
Desertification is a global phenomenon with multiple causes and consequences, and it particularly
affects the African continent, highly vulnerable due to the lack of food safety, malnutrition and
anthropic pressures on natural resources. The tripartite conference held in Niamey served to evaluate
the situation in arid regions with a particular emphasis on Africa, aiming to encourage sustainable
development, the fight against soil erosion and desertification. Some 100 participants at the conference
adopted 22 recommendations aimed at political decision-makers ahead of the Rio+20 Summit in June
2012. These recommendations aim to strengthen governance and sustainable development in arid
zones, encourage international cooperation and improve scientific cooperation, the strengthening of
capacities, transfer of technologies and knowledge distribution.
13
14
Annual report 2011
Monitoring flood levels / Brazil
Herbarium / Guiana
Latin america
and the Caribbean
Five framework agreements have been signed with Mexican scientific institutions:
The University of Morelos State, the Autonomous Metropolitan University, the
College of Mexico, the national assembly of the United Mexican States (through
its Study Centre for rural sustainable development and food sovereignty),
and the National Institute of Ecology. New links have been established with
Ecuador (Pontifica Universidad Católica del Ecuador), Colombia (Colciencias et
l’Université de Los Andes), Brazil (Conselho Nacional das Fundações Estaduais de
Amparo in Pesquisa and the Brazilian strategic studies and management centre)
and Peru. The Institute has also approached several networks and structures
operating at a regional level, such as the Comunidad de Práctica sobre el Enfoque
Ecosistémico en Salud Humana.
In order to improve knowledge, management and protection of marine
ecosystems in this region, the IRD has supported the regional extension of the
Jacques-Yves Cousteau Observatory in Mexico (monitoring the seas and coastal
Landslides in Bolivia
Following heavy rainfall at the start of 2011, Bolivia was faced with flooding and major landslides.
These caused a significant amount of damage to property and cut off the drinking water supply to
almost 300,000 inhabitants. According to IRD researchers, working in Bolivia as part of the PACIVUR(5)
programme, these events were largely due to climate and anthropic causes. Indeed, it was an instance
of La Niña that led to the increase in volume and frequency of rainfall, thus leading to flooding. Soaring
and poorly-regulated urbanisation has led to the construction of dwellings in at-risk zones, while
monitoring systems and evacuation plans are still very limited.
(5) Andean programme for training and research into vulnerability and risk in urban areas.
Contact:
geostrategie@ird.fr
Rice paddy / Vietnam
regions of Mexico, Costa Rica and other Central American countries), alongside
several French institutions (Université de Bretagne occidentale, the French
embassy in Costa Rica), Costa Rica (Costa Rica University and the National
University, the environment Ministry) and Central America (the French institute
of Central America). This was particularly seen in the institutional support given
to assist in the creation of the UNESCO-Cousteau Chair at the University of
Costa Rica.
The AFRODESC and EURESCL research programmes on persons of African
descent in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean were completed, and the
SANTALE programme for knowledge building in the field of organic chemistry
was launched.
In Peru, the HYBAM conference brought together the Latin-American community
working with large tropical river basins.
The institute hopes to position its French deep-sea sites, such as in Guiana, at the
heart of its international strategy. As a result, the IRD has founded the Guiana
international campus in Montabo (Cayenne), which includes two research
platforms: SEAS-Guyane, the satellite-enhanced Amazonian environmental
monitoring station, and the Herbier de Guyane (Guiana herbarium). The IRD has
also signed a framework agreement with the Federal University of Amapá and
University of the French West Indies and Guiana, aiming to create a community
of shared scientific, economic, cultural and social interests between France and
Brazil. In addition, a declaration of intent has been signed between the Brazilian
national council for support of research foundations (CONFAP), Guiana and the
IRD, in order to launch a support programme for scientific training between the
Northern States of Brazil and Guiana.
Annual report 2011
Asia
Vietnamese partnerships have been strengthened with the Vietnam National
University, the Foreign Trade University in Hanoi, and the Hô Chi Minh
City Institute for Development Studies. The Institute has also renewed its
collaboration with the Vietnamese Academy for Social Sciences and the regional
cooperation agreement with CIFOR(6).
In order to strengthen existing bonds with Laos and consolidate the Institute’s
activities in terms of research and training Laotian students, the IRD, which has
had a presence in the country for around ten years, has signed an agreement
with the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute.
In Thailand, the IRD has been involved in the short-and long-term response to
the problems caused by the flooding experienced in the second half of 2011.
Pacific
The results of the Santo 2006 natural science expedition were delivered in
Vanuatu. Other major events included the regional SOPAC(7) conference in Fiji and
the signing of an agreement with the Australian National University in Canberra.
The IRD also became a member of the Circum Pacific Council, a regional nongovernmental organisation working in the fields of energy and mineral resources.
Several cooperation programmes are ongoing. The NetBiOME(8) project aims
to establish an action plan for the preservation and management of European
biodiversity, largely for French overseas territories. It brings together 11 partners
and associates 7 outermost regions of France (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guiana,
Réunion), Spain (the Canary Islands) and Portugal (Madeira and the Azores),
as well as the vast majority of the overseas territories and dependencies of
the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France (New Caledonia and French
Polynesia).
The “Coral” LABEX is examining coral reefs in the context of global change, with
multiple objectives: advancing research on these ecosystems to assist in their
sustainable management, presenting France as a leader in this domain, creating a
French centre of excellence dedicated to coral reefs, and creating an international
network of centres of excellence. Supported by the École pratique des hautes
études/Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement
(CRIOBE), it benefits from funding of €650,000 over a period of 10 years. The
universities of Réunion, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, French West Indies and
Guiana, the Ifremer, the CNRS/INEE, and the École des hautes études en sciences
sociales are working alongside the IRD on this project.
In addition, the “Exploitation et gouvernance minière dans le Pacifique” symposium
took place in Nouméa. This project is the result of close collaboration between the
IRD and the Agronomic Institute of New Caledonia, the Secretariat of the Pacific
community, the national centre for nickel research and technology, the CIRAD, the
Coral association and the University of New Caledonia.
The IRD was involved with the doctoral students’ conference organised in Nouméa
by the University of New Caledonia and its associated partners, and contributed
to the launch of “Sismo-Net”, a seismographic warning network in New Caledonia.
(6) Center for International Forestry Research.
(7) South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission.
(8) Networking tropical and subtropical Biodiversity research in Outermost regions territories of Europe in support of sustainable development, www.netbiome.org.
Marine fauna / French Polynesia
Flora / New Caledonia
Marine fauna / French Polynesia
15
16
Annual report 2011
The Mediterranean region
Events around
the world
Pacific
2 representations
115 staff
8 long-term missions
1 individual fellowship awarded
4 co-publications
• Initial bi-regional dialogue platform
for the Europe-Pacific international
cooperation network for sciences and
technology (PACE-Net) in Brisbane
New Caledonia and Vanuatu
• “Mines et gouvernance dans le
Pacifique” conference in New Caledonia
• Delivery of the Santo 2006 mission in
Vanuatu
• Launch of the New Caledonia and
Vanuatu seismological monitoring
network
• ERA-Net NetBIOME programme for
the preservation and management
of European biodiversity in Overseas
departments and territories
Latin America and the Caribbean
8 representations
200 staff
42 individual fellowships awarded
35 long-term missions
8 emerging Southern teams supported
216 co-publications
Latin America
• Conference on Hydrology and geodynamics in South-American river
catchment areas in Lima, Peru
• Conference on Amazonian Ichthyofauna
• Regional extension to the J.Y. Cousteau Observatory for Mexican seas
and coastlines
• Agreements signed in Mexico
• Conclusion of the AFRODESC-EURESCL programme in Mexico
• Launch in Mexico of the SANTALE programme, aiming to build
knowledge of natural substances
• Creation of the GREATICE LMI on Andean glaciers, and the EDIA LMI on
Amazonian Ichthyofauna
• International workshop focused on Lake Titicaca in Huatajata, Bolivia
• Conference on human genetics in La Paz, Bolivia
• Official launch of the ANR CESA programme on Chagas disease
• ECOCLIMASOL, an organisation created by an IRD researcher, wins the
First prize in competition in the KICKSTART Latin America competition
for technological innovation
• Agreements signed in the field of seismology in Ecuador and Colombia
• Conference on Amazonian archaeology in Ecuador
• Conference on parasites in developing countries, in Ecuador
Guiana
• Signature of an agreement to create a major Amazonian cooperation
area between Brazil and France
Martinique
• Ministerial visit to the Agro-environmental research centre
3 representations
61 staff
33 long-term missions
18 individual fellowships awarded
8 emerging Southern teams supported
69 co-publications
• Partnership agreements signed in
Tunisia, Algeria and Syria
• Symposium on Economic and
democratic transition in Tunisia with the
Association of Tunisian Economists
• International MISTRALS symposium on
the future of the Mediterranean basin,
Malta
• Seminar: “Appropriation des ressources
naturelles et patrimoniales, compétitions
et droits d’accès en méditerranée”,
Beirut, Lebanon
• Expert panel review commissioned by
the Egyptian Court of Appeal
• Launch of the second AIRD/Science
and Technology Development Fund for
projects Egypt
• Creation of the MediTer LMI on
Mediterranean lands and TREMA LMI
for remote sensing of water resources in
Morocco
Annual report 2011
West and Central Africa
6 representations
308 staff
37 long-term missions
67 individual fellowships awarded
15 emerging Southern teams supported
282 co-publications
• Partnerships to combat desertification, particularly with the pan-african
Agency for the Great Green Wall
• Agreements signed in Mali as part of the “Mobilités ouest-africaines” research
project, with the Institut national de la statistique, with Cirad as part of the
“Gestion durable de la biodiversité agricole au Mali” project, and with the
faculty of science and technology at Bamako University
• Convention signed with the Institut de recherche agronomique, Guinea
• Inauguration of the African Institute for mathematical sciences, Mbour,
Senegal
• International conference on sustainable development of arid zones in
Niamey, Niger
• Steering committee for SEAS-Gabonn
• Conclusion of RESSAC project on water resources in the Sahel
• Official IRD mission to Conakry, to investigate the possibility of
relaunching cooperation in Guinea
• Numerous workshops in Senegal on social science methodology,
concerning the restoration, conservation and promotion of plant
biodiversity in Africa, on mycorrhizae and inoculation technologies. As part
of the RIPIECSA programme, a workshop on writing scientific articles
• CORUS and AIRES-Sud workshops on plant protection in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso
• Final workshop in the RIPIECSA programme, Cotonou, Benin
• Creation of the international Masters in tropical biotechnology, Burkina Faso
• Presentation for the publication of “Les femmes à l’épreuve du VIH dans les
pays du Sud” book, Senegal and Burkina Faso
• Sixth African Conference on Population, organised by the Union for African
Population Studies, Burkina Faso
• Renewal of cooperation with Côte d’Ivoire after the post-electoral crisis
• “Solidarité pour l’eau dans les pays du bassin du Niger” forum in Mali
• Creation of LMI and LLIP on malaria in Benin, and LAMIVECT for vectorborne illnesses in Burkina Faso.
Asia
East Africa, Southern Africa
and the Indian Ocean
4 representations
42 staff
16 long-term missions
14 individual fellowships awarded
7 emerging Southern teams supported
81 co-publications
Africa
• Launch of shared IRD/CNRS representation in South Africa
• Launch of ERAFRICA network in South Africa
Madagascar
• Conference on mycorrhizal symbioses in Madagascar
• CORUS and AIRES-Sud conference on agronomy and
ecosystems in Madagascar
• Delivery workshops for the QUALISANN and Sud Expert
Plantes projects in Madagascar
• Regional workshop on gemstones in Madagascar
• Book presentation “Parcours de recherche à Madagascar
- L’IRD-ORSTOM et ses partenaires”
Réunion
• Launch of the SEAS-OI platform in Réunion
4 representations
73 staff
20 long-term missions
16 individual fellowships awarded
6 emerging Southern teams supported
116 co-publications
• Agreements signed in Thailand, Vietnam
and Laos
• Creation of the RICE LMI on the
functional genomics of rice in Vietnam,
and preparatory meeting of the LUSES
LMI in Thailand
• ACGRID-III seminar in Vietnam on
emerging information technologies
• Regional SEDID conference on the
socio-ecological dimensions of infectious
diseases in Thailand
• International conference on inactivity in
the Mekong region
• Awards for work towards education in
Vietnam. Myriam de Loenzin
(UMR LEPED) and Patrick Gubry
(UMR Développement et sociétés)
• Workshops for the SELTAR Regional Pilot
Project - Soils, Waters, Coastal Zones
and Societies facing Risks in Southern
and Southeast Asia
17
18
Annual report 2011
Annual report 2011
Excellence
in research
• 20 Research focused on the South
• 23 Preserving the environment and resources
• 30 Improving public health in the South
• 34 Understanding social evolution in the South
19
20
Annual report 2011
Research focused on the South
Through close partnerships between North and South, the IRD works to
improve living conditions for vulnerable populations and to encourage
training and autonomy among scientific communities in the South.
By developing regional cross-disciplinary projects in the three priority domains
- health, society and the environment and resources, the IRD is committed to
conquering the major issues in development for its Southern partners.
Collaborations for the South
The IRD plays an integral part in the evolution of the French research
landscape. It is linked to three alliances: AVIESAN, the French National
Alliance for Life Sciences and Health; ANCRE, the French National
Alliance for Energy Research Coordination; and AllEnvi, the National
Alliance for Environmental Research. It has also strengthened
collaboration with higher education teaching establishments and
other research organisations. New agreements have thus been signed,
notably with the French Natural History Museum, the Paul Sabatier
Toulouse 3 and Nice Sophia Antipolis universities, and the PRESUniversité Montpellier Sud.
Great Ice meteorological station / Bolivia
As part of the Investissements d'Avenir programme, more than half of IRD
research units are involved in the selected projects for excellence. IRD teams are
partners with the 15 “Laboratoires d'excellence” (Labex), of which 8 are in the
domains of the environment and astrophysics, 4 in human and social sciences,
2 in biology and health and 1 in the field of energy. For example, the Institute
is particularly involved with the Coral Labex, which examines coral reefs faced
with global change, the CEBA Labex, covering Amazonian biodiversity in Guiana,
and the AGRO Labex, which looks at questions of agronomy and sustainable
development. The Institute is also partner to three “Équipements d'excellence”
(Equipex). It proposed a consortium working to promote themes relating
to the South and is one of the founding members of the “Institut hospitalouniversitaire” (IHU) POLMIT for infectious diseases, led by the scientific
cooperation foundation Méditerranée infections in Marseille. IRD units are also
linked to the creation of around twenty proposals in response to the call for
projects for the second wave of Investissements d’avenir programmes.
The Institute aims to make its Southern partners benefit from the positive
effects of these structures, and will assist them in understanding these new
features on the French research landscape.
New partnership instruments
In order to place Southern countries at the heart of partnerships, new tools have
been developed: The mixed international laboratories (LMI) and the regional
pilot programmes (PPR). These systems strengthen Southern teams' efficiency
in the fields of research, training and innovation.
LMIs were launched in 2008 and are operational structures located within the
premises of our Southern partners. They enable training and research projects
to be jointly implemented around shared platforms. They spread out regionally
and internationally and work with scientists from the South, offering researchers
and lecturer-researchers from the North the opportunity to develop lasting
relationships with their peers. Fourteen LMIs have been created and funded,
including three in the Mediterranean, two in West Africa, one in southern Africa, six
in Latin America and two in Asia. For example, the RICE LMI develops collaborative
research projects in Vietnam with the aim of improving rice production. The
GreatIce LMI is dedicated to studying the impact of climate changes on glaciers
in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.
Launched in 2010, PPRs are multidisciplinary research programmes on a
regional scale. They correspond, both thematically and geographically, to
priorities jointly defined by the IRD and its Southern partners and rely on a
coordinated set of scientific objectives and research activities relating to one
or more regions. With shared coordination and direction between North and
South, each PPR mobilises a large group of research teams. Three programmes
have been approved in 2012. One such PPR is Biodiversité, changements globaux
et santé dans les forêts tropicales humides d'Afrique centrale (FTH), which aims
to understand and predict environmental responses to climate and anthropic
Annual report 2011
changes in the Central African forest regions.
The Sociétés rurales, environnement et climat
en Afrique de l'Ouest (SREC) PPR combats
the vulnerability of rural populations faced
with climate change in West Africa. Lastly,
the Dynamiques des surfaces et interfaces
continentales et gestion des territoires ruraux
dans le Bassin méditerranéen (SICMED) PPR
enables the study and modelling of rural and
semi-rural human-altered ecosystems.
Seven PPRs are currently in the final stages of
their scientific projects. These programmes
relate to themes as varied as the study of
public policy in Sub-Saharan Africa and the
analysis of resources and environmental and
socio-economic dynamics in the Amazon.
Increasing numbers of copublications
excellence. 12 articles appeared in Emerging Infectious Diseases, 9 in Clinical
Infectious Diseases, 8 in Remote Sensing of Environment, 6 in the Journal of
Hydrology, 5 in PNAS, 4 in Nature, 4 more in The Lancet and 3 in Science. Each
researcher contributes to 2 publications on average, and among the 791 staff
who have published, nearly 11% have written more than five articles.
In the field of social sciences, IRD researchers have published 232 articles,
60 books and 220 book chapters, according to the Horizon database. A new
indicator relating to these themes has been included in the objectives
contract. It relates to a selection of journals extracted from AERES listings and
is complemented by a limited number of important publications on research
for development. In 2010, 181 articles met the criteria for this selection, three
quarters of our total production.
Co-publications with Southern countries have increased regularly in the last two
years, and now make up 45% of the total. This increase is particularly prominent
in West Africa and Latin America. The principal countries concerned are Senegal,
Brazil, Benin, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Peru. When the 2015 objectives
contract is launched, this figure should have reached 55%.
Publications enable the sharing of research
results with the scientific community as a
whole. They also demonstrate our research
teams' dynamism.
300
Rice picking / Vietnam
The number of articles published by IRD researchers has increased by around 7%,
up to 1,375 references in the Web of Science. This corresponds to an increase of
51% compared with 2006. If we take into account the full scope of the mixed
research units that the IRD is involved with, this scientific output can be counted
at 3,500 articles.
The visibility of publications is always important: 61% are published in journals
with an increased impact in their field, and more than 13% in journals of
21
250
Publications with an IRD author
between 2006 and 2011
200
1,600
150
1,400
600
1,200
100
1,000
50
800
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Co-publications
by major southern region
2011
0
2009
2010
2011
East and Southern Africa, Indian Ocean
West and Central Africa
Mediterranean region
Latin America and Caribbean region
Asia, Pacific
22
Annual report 2011
Expeditions to better understand the Southern
landscape
The locations explored by IRD researchers are as varied as their research topics.
From tropical forests to Sahelian deserts, Andean glaciers to Mediterranean
coasts, they study humans and their environment. The fight against infectious
diseases and the emergence of new illnesses, migratory movements, evolving
societies, climate changes and the preservation of resources and biodiversity are
all central preoccupations for our researchers.
Each year they carry out exploration missions and expeditions in order to better
understand the ecosystems of the South. The EXBODI campaign has permitted
new samples to be taken from the area around New Caledonia, in order to
better understand the diversity of fauna in the underwater mountain ranges
in this region and the study of little-known organisms linked to sunken wood.
The HYDROPRONY campaign, launched at the end of 2011, working on an
original hydrothermal site in New Caledonia’s southern lagoon, will enable
a better understanding of the conditions that favoured the emergence of
the first life forms. This type of extreme environment is also of particular
interest in the field of biotechnology, as it is potentially rich in bacteria
that are capable of synthesising new molecules. Still in New Caledonia, the
CALIOPE oceanographic mission has enabled the development of monitoring
tools for the lagoon ecosystems, using satellite imaging to monitor the water
colour, which varies according to concentrations of marine microorganisms.
TUAM’2011 is another initiative, part of the “biodiversité et substances
marines de Polynésie française” mission supported by the Grand Observatoire
du Pacifique sud, creating an inventory of marine fauna, with a focus on
sponges. These animals are present in all marine environments, at all latitudes,
and they have an excellent capacity to adapt. Their biological properties and
natural composition can also be used in human healthcare, aquaculture and
environmental applications.
As part of the NECTALIS oceanographic campaign, jointly led by the IRD and
the Pacific Community, experts are measuring the temperature and salinity
of the water, currents, light, and levels of phytoplankton and zooplankton and
their composition, in order to try and discover the initial links in the marine
food chain.
HYDROPRONY / New Caledonia
Contacts:
dgdscience@ird.fr
dic@ird.fr
TUAM’2011 / French Polynesia
The experimental PIRATA programme, established in 1997 by France, Brazil and
the USA in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean, enables measurement of meteorological
and oceanographic parameters from buoys that transmit their data by satellite
every day. New meteo-oceanic buoys have been installed in the central and
eastern Tropical Atlantic basin as part of the PIRATA 2011 campaign.
IRD researchers have also participated in several scientific missions in the
scattered islands, with the CNRS and the French Southern and Antarctic lands,
and the Marquesas Islands, with the Agence des aires marines protégées. The
Institute has also organised the ABANDA 2011 expedition, in partnership with
the Fondation Liambissi, to study the orange cave-dwelling crocodiles of Gabon.
This group of crocodiles offers a unique research opportunity due to their
geographic isolation and their highly specific living conditions.
The Abanda 2011 expedition
Having set off in 2010 to explore the karst caves of Abanda in Gabon, in search of
traces of ancient human activity, researchers from the “Patrimoines locaux” unit and
their partners from the Fondation Liambissi, in collaboration with the universities of
Rouen and Florida, discovered a population of orange dwarf crocodiles. These highly
specific specimens had never been recorded in this kind of cave habitat. The second
phase of the expedition took place in August 2011, in order to extend knowledge of
the cave network, record new crocodile specimens and collect new biological samples.
The initial results confirm the genetic divergence of these crocodiles in relation to
those found outside of the caves. However, many questions remain unanswered,
particularly concerning the duration and nature of their isolation, to be explored by
future missions.
Annual report 2011
Preserving
the environment
and resources
Global environmental changes and their impact on resources and our surroundings occupy
a central place among both political and scientific priorities. More than anywhere else,
communities of the South are dependent on natural environments for their very subsistence.
Extreme climatic events, soil deterioration and diminishing water supplies thus have dramatic
consequences in regions that are also experiencing rapid population expansion.
For the IRD and our partners, we are equally preoccupied with enhancing our understanding
of the processes that cause climate variations and improving our capacity to predict them,
anticipating natural risks and preserving planetary resources and biodiversity. We observe,
measure and simulate in order to decipher how natural and human-altered ecosystems'
operate; we report and model to allow better management, but also to share knowledge
within communities in the North and the South. These are the foundations of our scientific
operations.
Through multidisciplinary collaborations, establishing
major observatories and using innovative techniques such
as satellite monitoring, our research enables us to find
sustainable solutions for Southern countries.
1,065
481
391
articles
researchers
engineers and
technicians
23
24
Annual report 2011
Towards ecosystemic fishing management
Partner
Lynne Shannon.
University of Cape Town,
Marine Research Institute.
“By assembling experts
at the highest level, we
hope to obtain useful and
pertinent data to improve
fishing management for
those species known as
“fodder”. This project has
given us a remarkable
opportunity to produce a
robust and concrete model
that can now be used
at a local level, applied
to fisheries in Benguela
South so that sardines and
anchovies can be caught
without affecting the
needs of predators. These
results will enable us to
implement an ecosystemic
approach to fishing in
South Africa.”
Trophic interactions between species - the relationship between predators
and prey, and for competition over food - have a decisive role to play in the
function and dynamics of marine ecosystems. Better characterisation of these
interactions will enable a better understanding of the modes of organisation
and the dynamics of marine communities, and also a prediction of the impact
on overfishing. Researchers from the EME(1) unit are working together to find
a better system for fishing management and preserving biodiversity.
Fish at the bottom of food chains, such as anchovies, mackerels, sardines or
herring, are used principally for the production of feeds and oils for aquaculture
or animal rearing. They currently represent 37% of catches worldwide and
demand is constantly increasing. And yet these species, which usually feed on
plankton, play a crucial role within ecosystems, by guaranteeing a food source
for larger predatory fish, mammals and sea birds.
IRD researchers and their partners have analysed the impact the overfishing of
these species is having on the balance of marine ecosystems across the world.
From the Australian coastline to the North Sea, from South Africa to California
via the shores of Peru, five major regions were explored. Although variable
between regions, the results indicate the importance of these kinds of fish in
preserving biodiversity. The overfishing of anchovies has a strong impact on the
equilibrium of ecosystems in Peru as a whole, whereas for sardines, the impact is
felt more in the trophic areas of South Africa, and it is sand eel fishing that has
had the strongest effect in the North Sea.
Publication: Science
A better understanding of the feeding relationships within ecosystems can
enable the fixing of quotas that are suited to individual species and regions.
Minimally reducing catches by maintaining them at 80% of maximum yield
would significantly reduce the impact on the ecosystem. In addition, the critical
threshold of one third of fish stocks can also be used as a reference point not to
be exceeded. By providing concrete results and predictive models, these studies
are offering new possibilities for establishing fishery control policies that can
maintain exploitation of fishing resources in an economically, environmentally
and socially sustainable manner.
Another study has compared the changing levels of fish stocks and the rates
of reproduction of 14 sea birds, such as gannets, seagulls, puffins and penguins.
These birds feed mainly on sardines, anchovies, herring, and compete directly
with fishermen. Based on marine observations, scientists have established for
the first time an empirical predator-prey model, and have shown that fish stocks
diminished by over one third of their maximum biomass cause a brutal decrease
in hatchling numbers. The balance of the entire ecosystem is under threat,
wherever the location around the globe.
These different activities are thus exposing the importance of sustainable
exploitation of aquatic resources, particularly for the preservation of the species
Contacts:
Philippe Cury and Yunne-Jai Shin
UMR EME
(IRD/Ifremer/université Montpellier 2)
philippe.cury@ird.fr
yunne-jai.shin@ird.fr
in question. However, a lowering of fishing quotas could lead to diminishing
yields. And yet these small coastal fish, the principal foodstuff for numerous
other species, are also of a major nutritional benefit to man, whether consumed
directly or indirectly. The difficulty is thus to balance the preservation of
biodiversity with sufficient yields to ensure food security worldwide.
Fish and catch / Peru
(1) Exploited marine ecosystems (Ecosystèmes marins exploités).
Fishing / Senegal
Annual report 2011
25
Retracing the evolution of the tropical rainforests
The tropical rainforests are the richest and most complex terrestrial
ecosystems on the planet. They are reservoirs of biodiversity, and also
climate regulators, and currently cover about 7% of the Earth's surface. They
are threatened by human activity in all areas, and their management and
exploitation are currently major issues in the field of sustainable development.
The DIADE(1) unit has for the first time retraced the evolutionary history of
one of the plant families that is highly characteristic of these environments:
the palm family. By using new data on the origin and evolution of these
ecosystems through history, the results may allow us to better understand
their future development.
Palms are omnipresent in tropical rainforests and play an important ecological
role, due to the number of different species as much as their overall number.
They are also of particular interest to scientists, due to their high sensitivity to
climate changes such as the level of water available or temperature variations.
Their highly-recognisable profile is also beneficial in fossil identification. IRD
researchers and their partners(2) have thus used them as models in order to
study the evolution of tropical rainforests.
Partner
themselves. During the Cretaceous period, the equatorial climate was too hot
and too dry to accommodate these forests. Results suggest that the first tropical
rainforests appeared on the northern supercontinent known as “Laurasia”, which
included Eurasia and North America.
Containing 50% of the known plant and animal species on the planet, tropical
rainforests are one of the main original reservoirs of biodiversity. The multitude
of resources they contain also provides sustenance to hundreds of millions
of people. It seems crucial to preserve them. Our improved knowledge of the
emergence and ecology of palms is now creating new hypotheses to help us to
understand the history of these ecosystems during geological history, and their
future evolution. This research can be used in tandem with the implementation
of careful management that balances exploitation and preservation of the
tropical rainforests.
Using molecular dating methods - based on DNA sequences - the origin of
current palm genera has been estimated at over 100 million years ago, in the
middle of the Cretaceous period. These results have dismissed the previouslyaccepted hypothesis that placed the origins of tropical rainforest at the start
of the Tertiary period, 35-40 million years later. Armed with this knowledge of
the dates of the first palms, scientists have been able to estimate the dates
that different species appeared using the principle of the molecular clock, which
states that the DNA mutation rate can be correlated with time. They have thus
shown that the major palm species appeared gradually over time, certainly
for three quarters of their evolutionary history. These results join those from a
preceding study that dealt with another family of tropical plants, Annonaceae(3),
but contradict more readily-accepted hypotheses which state that the diversity
is due to recent and rapid speciation.
Taking into account the Earth’s climate 100 million years ago and the positions
of the ancient continents, researchers have also been able to determine the
geographic area of origin of these palms, and thus of the tropical rainforests
Agroforestry / Brazil
(1) Diversité, adaptation et développement des plantes.
(2) Research is being carried out in partnership with the New York Botanical Garden in the US and the Royal Botanical Garden Kew in the UK.
(3) The Annonaceae family contains around 2,000 species in around 100 genera: tropical and sub-tropical trees, shrubs and climbers.
Bonaventure Sonké.
Professor, École normale
supérieure, University of
Yaoudé I, Cameroon.
“One of the aims of the
research being carried out
with the IRD is to advance
our understanding of the
location and origin of
zones rich in biodiversity
and endemism within
the forests of Atlantic
Central Africa. To this
end, we are studying
tropical Orchidaceae and
Rubiaceae. We are
taking care to involve,
train and raise awareness
among local populations
of the conservation and
management of their
environment.”
Palm leaves / Costa Rica
Contact:
Thomas Couvreur
UMR DIADE (IRD/université Montpellier 2)
thomas.couvreur@ird.fr
Publications: BMC Biology, Journal of Biogeography
26
Annual report 2011
Improving predictions to limit the consequences of El Niño
Partner
Julio Quijano.
Masters student,
Cayetano Heredia
University, Lima.
“The UMR LEGOS and
the Peruvian institute
of geophysics (IGP) are
working in similar fields
of research and their
collaboration is highly
pertinent for my own
studies. I work specifically
on the atmospheric
dynamics of dust clouds in
the central region of Peru.
My aim is to continue
with my work using the
digital models these two
institutions have produced,
particularly to better
understand the climate in
the region, the interactions
between the ocean and
the atmosphere on the
Peruvian coast and the
impact of global change.”
Contact:
Christophe Maes
UMR LEGOS (CNES/CNRS/IRD/université
Paul Sabatier-Toulouse 3)
christophe.maes@ird.fr
Publication: Scientific Online letters on the Atmosphere
The Pacific Ocean is home to one of the planet’s most energetic climatic
phenomena: ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation), better known as El Niño
for warm events or La Niña for cool events. It influences global climate
as a whole. The major consequences of ENSO are very often catastrophic
- diluvian rainfall, exceptional drought, perturbations to global cyclonic
activity - and affect some of the world's poorest countries. Beyond advancing
scientific knowledge, understanding and predicting this phenomenon is a
major economic and social issue.
El Niño is seen as a perturbation to the “normal” state of atmospheric and
oceanic circulation in the Tropical Pacific. Indeed, under normal conditions,
anticyclonic cells in subtropical regions generate eastern winds at the level
of the ocean, known as trade winds. These winds push masses of air heated
by the sun westwards, creating a vast stretch of water heated to above 28°C,
known as the “warm pool”. Atmospheric temperatures rise on contact with this
warm water. As such, the reheated humid air rises and forms heavy clouds that
condense into precipitation. To the east, cold water rises from the depths to
counteract the deficit in surface water caused by the trade winds. This is known
as equatorial upwelling. One of the signs of El Niño is a lessening of the trade
winds. The masses of warm water are thus displaced to the east, the upwelling
mechanism slows down and the rainy zone moves to the coasts of Peru, Ecuador
and the American west, whereas the western Pacific suffers from heavy drought.
The phenomenon of La Niña is, in contrast, characterised by a strengthening of
the trade winds, pushing masses of warm air to the west and causing heavy rain
in Australia and Indonesia. Monitoring the movements of these masses of warm
air seems to be a good way to predict the onset of these events.
Researchers from LEGOS(1) and their partners(2) have prioritised two parameters
that enable the observation and prediction of climatic anomalies: the colour of
the water and salinity of ocean layers. Indeed, water that rises from the depths
to the east of the warm pool is rich in mineral salts and nutrition and favours the
proliferation of a variety of sea algae. When observed by satellite(3), it appears
greener than the warm water. Such data thus enables regular and precise
monitoring of displacement in this zone, which can stretch for several thousand
kilometres around the Equator. The second parameter demonstrated by
scientists is the measurement of salinity in the water. Indeed, this is an indicator
of the presence of an oceanic layer known as the “salt barrier layer”, situated at
several tens of metres in depth. It is characteristic of the western Tropical Pacific
and influences exchanges between the ocean and the atmosphere. Researchers
have used a digital model to demonstrate the major importance of this layer in
triggering El Niño and global climatic variability. The SMOS(4) satellite operation
was launched in 2009 by the European Space Agency and is particularly focused
on observing salinity in oceans. In a few years this new data will be able to be
used to enhance monitoring and prediction of the ENSO phenomenon.
Such activities have thus improved our understanding and modelling of the
mechanisms that control El Niño and La Niña. Thanks to high-frequency
surveillance tools, monitoring the colour and salinity of water in the various
models will allow for greater precision in climate predictions and the ability to
limit the consequences of these phenomena.
Surface temperature / Pacific Ocean
(1) Laboratoire d’études en géophysique et océanographie spatiales.
(2) This project has been carried out in partnership with researchers from the Météo France national meteorological research centre and the CNRS.
(3) Analysis was performed based on data from the American SeaWiFS and MODIS/Aqua projects.
(4) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity.
Water sampling / Peru
Annual report 2011
27
The Upper Niger: an uncertain future
It is highly important to guarantee water resources in the semi-arid regions of
countries like Mali, Niger and, to a lesser extent, Nigeria, for several reasons:
socio-economics, as Sub-Saharan Africa experiences large demographic
increases; and for political stability and development, in a context of climate
change with unknown repercussions. These resources are principally situated
upstream, in the upper Niger basin. Demographic changes, a variety of
installation projects and global change will lead to major alterations to the
river and its tributaries in the coming decades. At a broader level, all surface
water and humid zones will be increasingly in demand. As a result, it is vital to
understand the hydrological cycles and their development over time. These
are the objectives of numerous studies carried out by IRD researchers and
their partners as part of two major research programmes - NIGER-LOIRE(1)
and RESSAC(2).
The Niger is the third longest river in Africa. It runs from the Guinea Highlands to
the Sahara, and then makes a large loop as it crosses the Sahelian and semi-desert
regions, flowing south before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of
Guinea. Management of water resources for the catchment area is handled by
an inter-governmental organisation: the Niger Basin Authority, based in Niamey.
Partner
rearing animals or fishing. This is why thousands of motorised pumps are now
used for irrigation in Mali during the dry season and more than 500 small hydraulic
installations have been created since 1970 in the Bani sub-catchment basin, the
main affluent of the Niger. This is in addition to the growing infrastructures that
accompany the increasing anthropisation of catchment areas. Excessive extraction
of sand and gravel for urban expansion has removed several centimetres from
the riverbed each year in an area of around 150 km around Bamako. According
to scientists, the modification of hydrological systems by human activity could
eventually have a far more significant impact than the potential effects of climate
change.
Faced with such major upsets that threaten the balance of the Upper Niger, it
is vital to improve our knowledge of the river's current and future hydrological
functions, and of water use. This should enable a better exploitation of the river
and the establishment of sustainable development projects in these areas. These
studies will also provide fresh data to enable the prediction of environmental
consequences of human activity and global change.
Analysis of the hydrological data for the Upper Niger and its tributaries shows a
strong interannual variability in flows, with alternating dry and humid periods. For
example, the town of Bamako was partially flooded in 1967 and the water flow in
Niamey ground to a halt in 1985. In this context, a return of extreme conditions
is entirely plausible. The consequences for people, infrastructures and property are
potentially dramatic, as current population levels are much higher and are much
closer to water courses.
Given this situation, one might assume that climate change was the sole cause
of all these calamities. But the climate projection models for rainfall in tropical
regions are inconclusive. For the Niger River basin, it is difficult even to agree
on the general movement of such developments - whether there is increase or
decrease in rainfall - as less than 66% of models are in agreement.
Scientists have highlighted the impact of human activities exerting an increasing
amount of pressure on the basin. Indeed, if the number of major barrages is still
small, the number of small installations has increased, to facilitate irrigation,
Henri-Claude Enoumba.
Head of research and
planning department,
Niger Basin Authority.
“The lack of primary data
and local knowledge mean
that it remains difficult to
appreciate all the water
uses and their impacts
arising from major national
and regional development
and exploitation projects
associated with the Niger
River. The research that we
are undertaking with the IRD
relates directly to territorial
installations, agricultural
development, preservation of
ecosystems and the river’s
heritage. The“NigerLoire: Governance and
Culture” project and the
RESSAC programme have
placed an emphasis on the
urgent necessity to learn
more about the river, its
tributaries, banks and alluvial
plains, to better implement
Integrated Water Resource
Management for the basin.”
Sand mining / Mali
Traditional fishing / Mali
(1) “Niger-Loire: governance and culture”, operated by UNESCO between 2007 and 2011.
(2) “Vulnérabilité des ressources en eau superficielle au Sahel aux évolutions anthropiques et climatiques” coordinated by HydroSciences Montpellier.
Contacts:
Luc Ferry - UMR G-EAU (IRD/AgroParistech/Cemagref/Cirad/IAMM/Montpellier SupAgro)
luc.ferry@ird.fr
Jean-Emmanuel Paturel - UMR HSM (IRD/CNRS/Inra/Montpellier SupAgro/université Montpellier 2)
jean-emmanuel.paturel@ird.fr
Publication: Le fleuve Niger, de la forêt tropicale guinéenne au désert saharien - les grands traits des régimes hydrologiques, Publication IRD et Unesco, 2012.
28
Annual report 2011
Optimising mineral exploration in Africa
Partner
Assine TSHIBUBUDZE.
Witwatersrand University
Geological Department,
South Africa.
“The WAXI project
offered an opportunity
to better understand
African geology and to
create an African and
international research
network. This project has
exceeded my expectations,
in that I was able to
interact with researchers,
mining company bosses,
and geological surveys
from around the world.
I am now a lecturer at
Witwatersrand University
in Johannesburg, and it's
my turn to pass on the
knowledge that I obtained
through the WAXI project.”
Contacts:
Mark JESSELL and Lenka BARATOUX UMR
GET (IRD/CNRS/université Paul Sabatier Toulouse/CNES)
mark.jessell@ird.fr
lenka.baratoux@gmail.com
Publications: Nature Geoscience, Precambrian Research
The mining industry is the economic foundation for half of the African nations,
particularly those with stable democratic governance such as Botswana,
Ghana, Zambia and South Africa. An improvement in the exploration of
mineral resources is thus a priority for these African nations, requiring a better
understanding of metal-bearing areas and the ways in which these deposits
are formed. These are the aims behind the research being carried out by the
GET(1) laboratory as part of the WAXI-IXOA(2) programme.
In West Africa, mineral exploration is currently intensifying and is accompanied
by an increasing demand from countries to discover new deposits. The mineral
resources in this region (including iron, phosphate, uranium and gold) have long
been of interest to multinational operators from the northern hemisphere,
and also to companies from emerging nations, at the forefront of which are
firms from China, Brazil and South Africa. In this context, African states must
strengthen their knowledge and their skills in order to better exploit their own
resources.
WAXI-IXOA is an international network that groups together the principal public
and private actors in the field of geology applied to mineral exploration in West
Africa. Work carried out in this domain focuses on the tectonic changes in the
region two billion years ago(3). The variations in the gravitational field recorded
between 1960 and 1980 by IRD researchers are of the utmost importance in
understanding the subterranean environment. More recently, the World Bank
and the European Union have supported programmes for the airborne gathering
of geophysical data. This has enabled the creation of a database at a regional
level. In this way, analysis of geological data from the field, and in the domains
of petrophysics, geomorphology, geochemistry and geochronology, will enable
researchers to observe the subterranean “architecture” in West Africa.
The IRD is also conducting a research programme for the two- and threedimensional modelling of geophysical data on several scales. This ‘geophysical
structure’ will thus enable a better definition of the formations that control
mineralisation. At a local level, the same geophysical data is also of immense
value for geological cartography, particularly in West Africa, where minerals are
found in tropical zones, characterised by almost-impenetrable vegetation, and/
or the sub-Sahelian region, where land weathering can reach depths of up to
100 metres.
(1) Géosciences Environnement Toulouse.
(2) West African Exploration Initiative: www.waxi2.org.
(3) These projects have been specifically carried out in partnership with the University of Ouagadougou, the University of
Ghana, Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal and Witwatersrand University in South Africa.
Aeromagnetic map / Ivory Coast - Ghana
In collaboration with the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal and the
University of Ouagadougou, scientists are also carrying out dynamic analysis,
which includes the pathways and chronology of minerals, fluids and heat. This is
how the ‘anatomy’ of subterranean West Africa can be deciphered, through the
application of thermodynamic calculations based on mineralogy and chemistry
of rocks, in order to calculate the temperature and pressure conditions at the
point of their creation and deformation.
These works are the result of a genuine partnership between the State, the
private sector and civil society, and enable improved exploration methods
and the enhancement of data and activities from local geological services. The
project also includes a major training programme for African geologists.
Copper mine / Zambia
Annual report 2011
29
Climate and agriculture in West Africa
Food safety is an important concern in Sub-Saharan Africa, where almost
one third of the population suffers from malnutrition. The future of this
region thus depends on the agricultural sector's ability to guarantee
sufficient production for a population that is increasing rapidly, despite the
threat of climate change that could have negative repercussions on crop
productivity. A multidisciplinary study, including climatologists, agronomists
and economists, has for the first time quantified the revenue that could be
obtained by farmers if they adjusted their agricultural strategy to climate
predictions.
Rural populations in West Africa are particularly vulnerable to the uncertainties
of climate as agricultural activity strongly depends on monsoon rainfall that
can vary greatly from one year to the next. Indeed, since the 1970s, the major
famines have been partially caused by the effects of climate irregularities that
have led to deficits in agricultural production. As a result, Sahelian farmers have
developed a wide range of practices to attenuate the risk of bad harvests linked
to drought, but their adjustments leave little room for risk-taking and restrict
average yields and revenue, even with favourable precipitation. This strategy has
led to restricted development of activities and maintains their level of poverty. In
this context, a better anticipation of climate fluctuations would enable farmers
to adapt their strategies - the cereals they cultivate, optimal sowing dates, use
or non-use of fertilisers - and thus to increase their yields.
Since 1998, the predictions for the following rainy season(1) have been published
in spring in each West African nation by national meteorological organisations.
But this information rarely reaches farmers. A study based on 18 years of
climate predictions, from 1990 to 2007, has enabled researchers from the
LOCEAN(2) laboratory and their partners(3) to model millet productivity and
farmers' revenues with climate predictions taken into account, in the Niamey
region of Niger. Several scenarios have been created according to the precision
of these forecasts. As such, even under the current system, which does not
provide much information, revenue could be increased by up to 7% if producers
take predictions into account to adjust their farming strategy, even during
unfavourable years. In addition, a more efficient system could improve revenue
by up to 11%, and accurate predictions for the start and end dates of the rainy
season would increase gains by 31%.
Partner
These results thus confirm the important benefits to be gained from improving
both climate and meteorological prediction systems on the one hand, and the
dissemination of information (via the media, the Internet and radio etc.) to
Sahelian producers on the other. Elsewhere, a combination of this information with
farming insurance that would guarantee indemnity in seasons with insufficient
rainfall, would enable farmers to adopt a more opportunistic strategy, taking
greater risks for greater return. In this way,
climate and meteorological projections could
not only provide warnings and minimise the
consequences of climate irregularities on crops,
but also offer populations the opportunity to
capitalise on more favourable climatic periods
and to develop their activities.
Millet market / Niger
Millet field / Niger
(1) Presao (Prévisions saisonnières des pluies en Afrique de l’Ouest) is an annual forum that produces each May a forecast of the expected rainfall between July and September.
(2) Laboratoire d'océanographie et du climat.
(3) This project is carried out in partnership with Cirad, Cired and the Centre régional Agrhymet.
Dr Agali ALHASSANE.
Centre régional Agrhymet,
Niamey.
“This study has been carried
out using the SARRA-H
model to simulate millet
yields using different rainy
season forecast scenarios.
The confirmation of this
model in practice was the
initial objective of the
Agrhymet regional project,
implementing a system
for data collection from
farm plots. Promoting the
advantages of seasonal
rainfall forecasts and the start
and end dates of the season
reinforces the Agrhymet's
strategic investment in
producing these forecasts
and making them available to
producers in Sudano-Sahelian
regions of West Africa.”
Contacts:
Benjamin Sultan
UMR LOCEAN (IRD/CNRS/Muséum
national d’histoire naturelle/université
Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6)
benjamin.sultan@ird.fr
Philippe roudier - Cired
roudier@centre-cired.fr
Publication: International Journal of Climatology
30
Annual report 2011
Improving public health
in the South
Population health is a major issue, and at the centre of the Millennium Development Goals.
The fight against infectious diseases, the improvement of maternal and infant health and
nutrition are all equally important subjects for the IRD and its partners.
Aids and malaria are still the two major concerns for the Southern nations. The emergence of
new illnesses, whether viral or bacterial, and the persistence of lesser-known illnesses, such
as leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis or Chagas disease, are also of equally pressing concern.
In addition, whilst undernutrition is still affecting several countries, others are experiencing
increases in obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular illnesses and certain cancers that previously
were only to be found in industrialised nations.
In this context, researchers are carrying out multidisciplinary studies to improve our
understanding of the processes associated with infection, the means of diagnosis and
patient treatment and care. Several shared research platforms have thus been created, such
as the Centre national d'expertise sur les vecteurs in Montpellier, and the LAMIVECT mixed
international laboratory in Burkina Faso and the LLIP mixed international
laboratory in Benin, both dedicated to the study of vector-borne diseases.
Anthropological and socio-economic aspects are also studied to enable the
creation of healthcare policies that are more efficient and
adapted to local contexts.
engineers and
119
99
researchers
technicians
507
articles
Annual report 2011
31
Nutritional transition in North Africa
The increase in chronic illnesses linked to changes in lifestyle and
eating habits is an increasingly pressing concern in the countries of the
Mediterranean basin. Researchers from the NUTRIPASS(1) unit are studying
this nutritional transition in the Maghreb in order to optimise information
and prevention campaigns and improve population health.
While undernutrition remains a vital concern in numerous Southern countries,
a certain number of these face problems of chronic illnesses caused by new
dietary habits and changes in lifestyle, as found in industrialised nations.
As part of growing urbanisation, foods increasingly rich in energy, sugar
and fats (especially soft drinks), in tandem with an increasingly sedentary
lifestyle, are increasingly found to be factors that lead to obesity, weight
problems, and the appearance of chronic illnesses such as Type 2 diabetes,
cardiovascular illnesses and some cancers.
Adolescents in these countries are particularly vulnerable due to their
lifestyle and the physiological and psychological changes they experience.
As a result, IRD researchers and their partners(2) have been investigating
the eating habits of adolescents between 15 and 19 years old in Tunisia.
Detailed analysis of their consumption has revealed a disparity of situations,
ranging from a traditional profile to a more modern diet. If a modern profile
is characterised by an excess of fat and sugar, it is also more varied and does
reduce certain nutritional deficiencies. For example, it seems to reduce the
risks of hypertension in young girls (associated with a greater consumption
of dairy products). So the new eating habits do not always have negative
consequences.
Partner
In addition to food consumption itself, inactivity is also a major risk
factor for obesity. Other activities from the Obe-Maghreb(3) programme
have demonstrated the harmful effects of television and video games on
the corpulence of adolescent Tunisians. For greater efficiency, nutritional
education should thus recommend a change in behaviour, and regular
physical activity in particular.
The general context of malnutrition by excess does not exclude
nutritional deficiencies, especially concerning micronutrients. The ObeMaghreb programme has shown that one female out of four in Morocco,
and one out of five in Tunisia, are overweight and iron deficient at the same
time. The so-called double burden of malnutrition should also be included in
overall preventative measures.
Obesity and diseases of civilisation are not uniquely found in developed
countries. They are increasing in a spectacular fashion in North Africa,
particularly in cities, and are a major public health concern. These studies
of risk factors for chronic illnesses in populations, and the analysis of the
responses and conditions that would allow for their reduction, have presented
new data to enable the implementation of appropriate preventative policies.
(1) Prévention des malnutritions et pathologies associées.
(2) Study carried out in collaboration with the Institut national de nutrition et de technologie alimentaire (INNTA) and the Institut national de santé publique (INSP) in
Tunisia, as part of the implementation of data for the European TAHINA “Transition and Health Impact in North Africa” programme.
(3) “Comprendre la transition nutritionnelle au Maghreb pour contribuer à la prévention de l'obésité et des maladies non transmissibles associées” carried out in partnership
with the INNTA (Tunisia), Ibn Tofaïl University (Morocco) and Nottingham University.
Professor Jalila el Ati.
Institut national de
nutrition et de technologie
alimentaire, Tunis.
“Managing the problems
caused by advancing
nutritional transition in
Tunisia has become a
national priority. The new
concern for the nation is
to control the evolution
of this transition and its
human and economic
impact. Our partnership
with the IRD’s NUTRIPASS
research unit has given
the opportunity for INNTA
researchers to develop
their skills to better
understand the healthcare,
nutrition and dietary
situation. It also offers the
opportunity to enrich our
scientific understanding
through training
(researcher exchanges)
and monitor the results of
this research.”
Contacts:
Francis Delpeuch, Agnès Gartner and Pierre Traissac
UMR NUTRIPASS
(IRD/universités Montpellier 1 et Montpellier 2)
francis.delpeuch@ird.fr
agnes.gartner@ird.fr
pierre.traissac@ird.fr
Food market / Tunisia
Tunis city centre
Publications: Nutrition Journal, Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism.
32
Annual report 2011
Identifying the causes of fever in West Africa
Fever is the main reason for consultation in Africa. In addition to Plasmodium
falciparum, the cause of malaria, numerous other pathogens can cause fever
symptoms. Several research programmes exist to study these afflictions, their
origin and their evolution, to improve preventative and combative measures.
Partner
Papa Ndaw.
Head Nurse at the Toucar
dispensary in Senegal.
“By participating in the
IDEPATH project, we hope
to understand the current
situation regarding febrile
pathologies other than
malaria in the Niakhar
area of Senegal, and
their impact in terms of
morbidity and mortality.
We have not yet received
the results from all of the
data we have collected,
but we hope that they will
enable better treatment of
these pathologies.”
Contacts:
Éric Leroy
UMR MiVEGEC (IRD/universités Montpellier 1
et Montpellier 2 /CNRS)
eric.leroy@ird.fr
Cheikh Sokhna et Oleg Mediannikov UMR
URMITE (IRD/ Inserm/ CNRS /université de la
Méditerrannée-Aix-Marseille 2)
cheikh.sokhna@ird.fr
Oleg.Mediannikov@ird.fr
Publications: Journal of Virology, Clinical Microbiology
and Infection, PLoS Pathog, Journal of Infectious Diseases,
PLoS Negl Trop Dis, J Infect Dis, Euro Surveill.
The IDEPATH(1) project, led by researchers from the URMITE(2) unit, is using
molecular biology techniques aiming to diagnose and identify all bacteria
causing fever in five areas of Senegal, in order to improve patient treatment.
Laboratories have thus been set up in order to study the samples collected
daily in health centres. The initial results from the programme have highlighted
the presence of infections including some rickettsioses, tick-borne recurring
borreliosis, Whipple's disease and Q fever. More than a quarter of cases of nonmalarial fever examined can be attributed to these little-known bacteria and
to their potentially fatal consequences in the absence of appropriate antibiotic
treatment. IRD researchers and their partners have suggested establishing
systematic treatment using antibiotics where fever is not due to malaria. This
would enable prior treatment for numerous febrile diseases. The research has also
demonstrated the necessity of measuring the frequency of these complaints, to
develop new diagnostic tools enabling their rapid detection on a large scale and
to define the strategies for combining therapeutic treatment with malaria.
Fever is often frequently linked to other symptoms such as rheumatic,
respiratory, digestive, neurological or haematic impairment. These complex
clinical conditions are often caused by viruses. The MIVEGEC(3) unit is studying
these illnesses in the tropical forests of Africa in order to better understand and
predict the risks of new strains emerging. An analysis platform has been created
in Gabon(4) which allows patient diagnosis according to their symptoms. Fever
linked to rheumatic disorders might be caused by Dengue or Chikungunya. These
two illnesses are spread by the same vector, the tiger mosquito, and the number
of co-infected patients is increasing. Immunological analysis has demonstrated
the importance of an innate response in controlling Chikungunya infection.
Where fever is linked to haemorrhages, the Ebola, Marburg or Crimean-Congo
virus may be at cause. Researchers have identified and characterised the 2 most
recent Ebola epidemics in the DRC(5) and demonstrated that a “superantigenic”
(1) The “identification of emerging pathogens” project is carried out in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur de Dakar and
the ministère de la Santé et de la Prévention in Senegal.
(2) Research unit working on emerging infectious and tropical diseases.
(3) Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs - écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle.
(4) This research has been carried out in collaboration with the Centre international de recherches médicales in Franceville,
the Institut Pasteur and the ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes.
(5) Democratic Republic of Congo.
effect may be the origin of the destruction of the immune cells linked to patient
mortality. They have also discovered the Crimean-Congo virus in the DRC,
more than 50 years after the last recorded case. Lastly, they have detected bats
infected by the Marburg virus in Gabon, with the threat of future epidemics
not far behind. Fever can also be accompanied by neurological symptoms that
might, for example, be caused by poliomyelitis. A powerful epidemic affected
Pointe Noire in Congo-Brazzaville in 2010 and could have been caused by a viral
strain that is not covered by the vaccine.
Environmental changes, displaced populations and the colonisation of new
territories favour the emergence of infectious diseases whose effects on
population health can be devastating. Developing countries pay a heavy price for
these infections that, if they were better known and diagnosed, could be treated
more effectively. The different studies conducted by the IRD work towards this
aim and will be of much use to governments when implementing appropriate
healthcare policies.
Emerging illnesses / Gabon
Epidemiological survey / Gabon
Annual report 2011
33
Combating HIV/Aids in Thailand
Since the start of the HIV epidemic in Asia, Thailand has been one of the
most seriously affected countries. Out of 67 million inhabitants, almost
600,000 are infected with the virus. Despite remarkable progress made
and the creation of prevention campaigns, a small number of children are
still at risk of infection from their mothers at birth. As part of the PHPT(1),
researchers from the “Épidémiologie clinique, santé mère-enfant et VIH en
Asie du Sud-Est” unit are studying the perinatal transmission of the virus in
order to improve treatments, in a context of limited resources.
The PHPT clinical research group in Thailand includes a network of more than
50 public hospitals and a coordination centre for logistics, administration,
data processing and training, with a laboratory dedicated to virology and
pharmacology and a pharmacy for clinical trials. Several clinical trials have been
conducted in order to optimise combined drug treatments while reducing the
risk of developing resistance to antiretrovirals that might compromise their
effectiveness.
A basic treatment with Zidovudine during the first trimester of pregnancy
and one dose of Nevirapine during labour can help to prevent infection from
HIV-1 in 98% of children. This combination is frequently used in developing
countries. Nevertheless, HIV can mutate to adapt to certain female patients,
and develop a resistance to Nevirapine. In order to optimise these methods,
researchers have administered antiretrovirals during the weeks following
treatment with Nevirapine and demonstrated that such combinations can
prevent mutations. The group is also working on triple therapies for infected
persons. Where they are totally effective, virus production is halted. In cases of
resistance, they react less well and the virus becomes resistant to an increasing
amount of molecules over time. Resistance thus needs to be detected rapidly.
Two monitoring methods have been compared in over 700 patients. The first
highly sensitive but more expensive method involves detecting all instances of
viral resurgence in patients. The second method, more commonly available in
developing countries, verifies that immunodeficiency is not present. The two
are seen to be equally efficient. Another study has revealed that some drug
combinations used in the first line of treatment can maintain a greater choice
of alternative therapies should they fail.
Partner
Wasna Sirirungsi.
Dean of the Faculty of
Associated Medical Science,
Chiang Mai University.
HIV/ Thailand
Papillomavirus / Thailand
Several pharmacokinetic(2) studies have been carried out, particularly among
pregnant women and children, as the recommended doses of some drugs in
the West can be excessive for Asian patients, for reasons that remain unclear
(lower average weight, genetics). The aim is to better understand the way the
drugs work and their outcome in the organism to adjust quantities, the means
of administration and the duration of treatment.
“Our collaboration with IRD
174/PHPT has enabled a
considerable reduction in the
number of cases of paediatric
Aids in Thailand. During
the past 10 years, our work
has focused on HIV. We are
now using the experience
gained with HIV for other
infectious diseases caused by
the hepatitis B virus or the
human papillomavirus, which
are major health problems in
South East Asia”
Researchers are also interested in the relationship between perinatal transmission
of HIV and the Cytomegalovirus (CMV). In-utero infection of children by CMV
seems to favour the transmission of HIV from mother to child.
The fight against the HIV/Aids pandemic is seen as a major issue on the
international stage. It forms part of political agendas for all major organisations
and it is the 6th Millennium Development Goal as set out by the United Nations.
The research activity carried out by the IRD and its partners in Thailand has
already enabled the WHO and the Thai Public Health ministry to implement
national prevention and control policies. These advances will be added to the
new national directives for optimising treatment and combating the disease.
(1) The “Programme for HIV Prevention and Treatment” or PHPT brings together researchers from the IRD, Chiang Mai University in Thailand and the School of Public Health at Harvard University in the US.
(2) Studying the outcome of the drug in the organism.
Contact:
Gonzague Jourdain
UMI IRD-PHPT (Chiang Mai
university/Harvard University/IRD)
gonzague.jourdain@ird.fr
Publications: Clinical Infectious Diseases, Plos One, Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, Ther Drug Monit.
34
Annual report 2011
Understanding social
evolution in the South
Contemporary societies in Southern countries are constantly developing. However, increases
in economic exchanges and globalisation have led to the appearance of major inequalities,
between North and South, but also between Southern countries. The social science research
carried out by the IRD and our partners focuses on three major themes: development of
governance; vulnerabilities, inequalities and growth; and social and spatial boundaries
and dynamics. Experts including anthropologists, economists, geographers, demographers,
historians, linguists and sociologists are all attempting to decipher the human and social
factors at the heart of development.
This research, developed on a local and a transnational scale, encourages dialogue with social
actors. It enables an understanding of the foundations on which Southern societies are built,
particularly through studies, among many others, of migration, miscegenation, heritage
preservation, religious movements and social inequalities. It questions the current and future
social transformations that Southern societies are experiencing in all their diversity.
178
researchers
48
engineers and
technicians
512
books and
articles
Annual report 2011
35
Memories of slavery, miscegenation and multiculturalism
From Mexico to France, passing through the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan
Africa, research that carried out as part of the Afrodesc(1) and Eurescl(2)
programmes between 2008 and 2011 has brought together researchers
form North and South, with the shared objective of analysing the
foundations of the identities and communities that resulted from slavery
and the subsequent waves of immigration. The results were presented
at the L'autre métissage, nation, ethnicité, inégalités (Amérique, Caraïbes,
France) conference.
For three centuries, the triangular commerce between Europe, Africa and the
Americas deported millions of Africans across the Atlantic. These traumatic
events were the foundation of colonial and post-colonial societies in the
North and the South. IRD researchers and their partners(3) have studied how
these population movements resulting from slavery and its abolition, in
addition to colonial rivalries and American capitalism in the 19th century,
have created the nations of today. What is the status of black populations
today, and what are the policies for their recognition in Mexico, Central
America and the Caribbean, and even mainland France?
Discussions of race and racialisation and their links with enslavement;
enquiry into multicultural policies in relation to the unequal
relationship between the North and South and national development;
analysis of the cultural practices associated with peoples of African
descent, and their significance and transformation… Such were the
major themes of the Afrodesc programme, which also aimed to
establish teaching materials on the subject of slavery, and carry out a
comparative analysis between the theory and method of racism. The
link to the Eurescl projects arose from questions of citizenship and
multiculturalism.
In Latin America, this multidisciplinary approach has notably revealed
multiple diasporas existing in tandem with the original black diaspora
resulting from the slave trade. Such is the case for the “Afro-Caribbean”
population that resulted from the wave of economic migration to the
West Indies in the late 19th century, or the “Garifunas”, the descendents
Partner
Nahayeilli Juarez Huet.
Anthropologist, CIESAS
Peninsular, Mérida.
Mural / Cuba
of Native American and African populations. In Mexico, the African presence
was of great importance from the very start of colonial times, considered
by some as the “third race” of the national identity, alongside European
and Amerindian origins. They are, in reality, a multitude of “roots” at the
origin of the Mexican peoples. They are highlighted in L’autre métissage, a
photographic exhibition that forms part of these research programmes.
The pooling of studies carried out in Latin America and France has also fed
into discussions by scientists on questions of miscegenation, multiculturalism
and citizenship. So in Latin America, organisations of peoples of African
descent have sought for civic recognition, but such assertions are often
subject to criticism and the rejection of miscegenation as the foundation
of national identity. In France, they have contributed to debates on the
republican model of equal citizenship. In both cases, these questions have
been widely ideologised and are becoming a political issue.
During the last four years, many seminars have been organised on both sides
of the Atlantic. The results have been the subject of numerous articles and
group publications, an exhibition and two videos. The Afrodesc and Eurescl
programmes have thus helped to open new channels for scientific and civic
discussion on the collective memory of slavery, miscegenation, racism and
multiculturalism, which can only increase in number in years to come.
“The Afrodesc and Eurescl
programmes have been
notable in opening up
a field of research that
was previously unheard
of in Mexico, concerning
populations of African
descent, and in
particular the circulation
of their cultural
expression, which is
growing in importance
both nationally and
internationally. Diverse
academic activities have
allowed such advances:
multi-site conferences
and seminars, publication
of working documents
and articles, the travelling
festival of research videos.
The consolidation of the
cooperation between
CIESAS and the IRD has
facilitated such exchanges
and alliances between
researchers, and also
training for students from
the countries concerned.”
Cultural diversity / Mexico
(1) ANR-AIRD Programme Afrodesc-Afrodescendants et esclavage: domination, identification et héritages dans les Amériques (xve-xxie siècle).
(2) European FP7 Eurescl-Slave Trade, Slavery, Abolitions and their Legacies in European Histories and Identities.
(3) Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7; Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis; CIRESC (GDRI du CNRS); Centre d’études mexicaines et centre-américaines (CEMCA); Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro de Investigación y Educación
Superior en Antropología Social (CIESAS), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Universidad de Cartagena.
Contacts:
Elisabeth Cunin and Odile Hoffmann
UMR URMIS (IRD/université Paris diderot-Paris 7/
Université Nice-Sophia Antipolis)
elisabeth.cunin@ird.fr • odile.hoffmann@ird.fr
Publications: Les traites et les esclavages. Perspectives historiques et contemporaines, Paris, Karthala, 2010.
Política e identidad. Afrodescendientes en México y América Central, Mexique, INAH-UNAM-CEMCA-IRD, 2010
Exposition de photographies et catalogue L’autre métissage.
36
Annual report 2011
The economic and democratic transition in Tunisia
Partner
Mohammed Haddar.
Chairman of the
Association of Tunisian
Economists.
“The Association of
Tunisian Economists
aims to animate
scientific and economic
research by developing
our cooperation with
international partners. We
have organised seminars
and conferences. For many
years, IRD researchers
have participated in some
of these events and the
doctoral colleges. The Arab
Spring is a historic point
of transformation that
requires new instruments
for analysis and
understanding. For this
reason we are going to
develop the Observatoire
des transformations du
monde arabe (OTMA) in
collaboration with the
IRD.”
2011 will be remembered as the year of the “Arab revolutions”. It began a
new era of economic and democratic transition with an uncertain outcome,
that would fundamentally question ideas of development and social and
political transformation, implicating not only the internal institutional
and socio-economic forces, but also the nature of trans-Mediterranean
partnerships. In order to assist Tunisia with these decisive transformations,
the IRD, the Association of Tunisian Economists and the Collège international
des sciences du territoire have gathered together experts from around the
world in Hammamet.
The events in Tunisia marked the beginning of an unprecedented revolution in
many countries in North Africa. The explosion of anger, which initially erupted
among the Tunisian youth and spread across all social classes, was fed by
profound inequalities and regional disparities in development and a shared
sense of injustice. All rejected the corruption and deprivation of liberties caused
by the regime, which crumbled after 24 years in power.
Profound changes now need to be initiated by Tunisia. But how to emerge from
a corrupt economy to create an economy based on knowledge and innovation.
What are the political, economic and social dimensions that enable the transition
from a dictatorial regime to a democracy?
In the light of similar experiences in Argentina, Chile, Spain, Greece, Portugal,
Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland, international experts have gathered
together to respond to the issues arising from these transformations and to
offer Tunisia possible avenues towards a successful transition.
The historical analysis of past events shows that there are not "one” but “several”
forms of democracy and that each country has its own specific trajectory. The
complexity of these processes can sometimes lead to unexpected reversals or
even surprises such as the emergence of political Islamism.
Arab Spring / Tunisia
avenues to renew trans-Mediterranean partnerships, particularly by reviving
two forgotten dimensions: the sense of Arab identity and the importance of
the Islamic context. The evolutions in Tunisia and other North African countries
determine the future of the region and of Europe.
Despite these issues, the current transformations have taken most researchers
in the social sciences by surprise. These changes are thus opening up new fields
of investigation for the IRD and Southern partners, who must work together to
build concepts and develop multidisciplinary analytical instruments capable of
responding to current developments. Regional and territorial aspects have been
classified as essential, but infra-national analytical tools are very limited in the
Arab world.
A new approach, integrating historical, anthropological and socio-political
dimensions, will enable a better understanding of these phenomena.
The transitions are slow processes which are constantly evolving. Long-term
stability can require a certain number of compromises that integrate elements
of the old administration, such as in Poland or Spain. Elsewhere, the perspective
of European integration was decisive for the Eastern European countries
following the fall of the Berlin Wall. This gives the possibility of offering
Contact:
Jean-Yves Moisseron
UMR développement et sociétés
(IRD/université Panthéon-Sorbonne-Paris 1)
jean-yves.moisseron@ird.fr
Traditional life / Tunis
Publication: La transition économique et démocratique en Tunisie. Leçons des expériences passées. L’Harmattan, 2012.
Annual report 2011
37
Declining fertility,
an economic lever for Sub-Saharan Africa
Since the start of the 1990s, several West African nations have seen their
GDP increase per inhabitant, the first signs of economic growth after several
decades of decline. But with fertility rates among the highest in the world
and 30-50% of the population still living in poverty, this progression is not
enough to meet these nations' needs.
With mothers giving birth to 5 children on average, the population of SubSaharan Africa was 860 million in 2010. By 2050, the figure could reach between
1.5 and 2 billion inhabitants, if fertility drops to 2 or 3 births per woman.
According to a vast study carried out in 12 West African countries, issues relating
to population control are very important: capability in terms of healthcare
and education, better food security, the deployment of effective sustainable
development policies to preserve the environment, conflict prediction, and a
guarantee of security for inhabitants and their property.
However, strategies implemented in the past
20 years have not succeeded in controlling the
major population growth in West Africa. This can be
attributed to limited political, financial and human
resources, and also by the fact that these have mostly
attempted to deal with the more urgent challenges
of mother-infant healthcare or the prevention and
treatment of HIV/Aids. As such, access to family
planning services is limited, despite a strong demand.
Indeed, only 10 to 20% of women in relationships
have access to contraception, whereas 30 to 60%
demand it.
Partner
active workforce - thus releasing the resources necessary to improve the levels
of population healthcare and education and invest in productive sectors.
By contrast, continuing with current trends will render universal access to
healthcare, education for all and control of food security more difficult.
A wider use of contraception would require current spending allocated to
family planning services to be multiplied between 3 and 5 times. Nevertheless,
this could be counterbalanced by substantial savings that would be made in
government spending on at-risk pregnancies and the costs associated with the
twofold increase in pregnancies over the next twenty years if current trends
continue unchecked.
Controlling fertility, reducing population growth and
dependency ratios will not in themselves be sufficient
actions to initiate developmental processes. But these
conditions are part of a wider range of measures that
are required for the nations of West Africa to progress
with demographic transition and become emerging
nations themselves.
The increasing use of contraception thus corresponds
to women’s needs, but is also an important lever
which West African nations could use to meet the
socio-economic challenges they will face in the
coming decades. It is this progressive stabilisation
of the annual birth rate that has enabled emerging
nations to reduce their dependency ratio - the
number of people not working in relation to the
Dr Issaka Maga Hamidou.
Abdou Moumouni University,
Niamey.
“This study is a first in
Niger. It presents convincing
arguments on the negative
effects of extreme population
growth in several areas, and
how it can make the public
authorities’ task increasingly
difficult, particularly in the
fields of food, healthcare
and education. Indeed,
these requirements will
increase more rapidly
than financial resources
and the government’s
investment capability. This
project suggests potential
solutions, notably, though not
exclusively, by slowing down
population growth through
decreased fertility rates.”
Contact:
Jean-Pierre Guengant
UMR “Développement et sociétés”
(IRD/université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne)
guengant@hotmail.fr
Market / Senegal
Family planning clinic / Senegal
Publication: à Savoir n° 9 | Comment bénéficier du dividende
démographique ? La démographie au centre des trajectoires de
développement / How to capitalize on the Demographic Dividend?
Demographics at the heart of development pathways - AFD/IRD 2011.
38
Annual report 2011
Annual report 2011
The “Agence
inter-établissements
de recherche pour
le développement”
• 40 The AIRD: mobilising for the South
• 42 The research programmes
• 44 Capacity-building in the South
• 46 Innovating with the South
• 48 Sharing knowledge
39
40
Annual report 2011
THE AIRD: mobilising for the South
Now fully integrated into the IRD with its own senior management committee,
the AIRD (Agence inter-établissements de recherche pour le développement)
has consolidated its internal organisation and its position on the French
institutional landscape. Its mission is to coordinate French research in the
South, with the South and for the South, as laid out in the IRD's objectives
contract.
The AIRD is made up of three divisions with skills that complement each other.
The division for Programmes and training in the South coordinates the Agency's
programmes for implementing research activities and reinforcing knowledge.
The Information and scientific culture in the South division facilitates the
production and presentation of scientific knowledge through a variety of media.
Lastly, the division for Expertise and consulting in the South develops a wide
range of instruments for the socio-economic promotion of research results in
Southern countries. These three divisions cover the full spectrum of the research/
training/promotion continuum, including promotion that is economic, societal
and cultural.
Working directly in accordance with the mission it was allocated by decree in
June 2010 - to bring together research and higher education establishments to
discuss questions of science for development - the AIRD has strengthened its
bonds with the different institutional players on the French stage. The framework
agreement signed on 14 September 2011 with the ANR(1) allows the Agency to
contribute to programming and to allocate funding to Southern teams linked
to the projects it supports. Similarly, a framework agreement with the AFD(2)
will be signed during 2012 to facilitate the inclusion of research activities in
public funding for development. Lastly, the Agency contributes to the national
programme coordinated by the five research Alliances(3), working with each of
them to define scientific themes to be implemented in the South.
The AIRD has also consolidated its relationships with its founding members(4)
through the creation of a steering committee. The framework agreement signed
on 10 November 2011 certifies the commitment of each member to contribute
to the Agency's activities.
(1) Agence nationale de la recherche.
(2) Agence française de développement.
(3) Aviesan, AllEnvi, Ancre, Allistene, Athena.
(4) Cirad, CNRS, CPU, Inserm, Institut Pasteur and the IRD.
Contact:
dgdagence@ird.fr
The official COrA steering committee gives advice and proposals concerning
activities, partnerships and the means available for implementing their missions.
The Committee is made up of 13 qualified professionals from the South and
13 institutional representatives from France, 11 of whom are from the research
and higher education sphere (founder members of the AIRD, Alliances) and
2 representatives from the ministries that supervise the IRD. The first meeting
was held on 16 December 2011. This meeting resulted in the election of the
committee's chairman (Jean-Pierre Ezin, African Union Commissioner for Human
Resources, Research and Technology), and vice-chairman (Michel Laurent, IRD
Chairman).
The COrA has also set out the axes of its own work programme for the coming
term of office: increasing the efficiency and visibility of the French capacity
for research for development and coordination of stakeholders; working
to strengthen that capacity by mobilising academic potential through the
Conférence des présidents d’Universités and the Conférence des grandes écoles
and defining a national strategy; creating proposals to influence European policy
on research for development, in coordination with the Senior management
concerned and in line with the H2020 programme; preparation of an annual
financial report.
The AIRD has also implemented new programmes and coordinated activities
for its members, creating a shared policy at an international level. Southern
partner nations can be divided into four categories: least developed countries
(Sub-Saharan Africa), middle-income countries (Mediterranean and South East
Asia), emerging nations (Brazil, South Africa, ...) and overseas regions (French
Overseas Departments and Territories).
Annual report 2011
A few examples of initiatives taken can illustrate such activities:
• The Great Green Wall project has led to a cooperation agreement, signed in
March 2011 in N’Djamena in Chad, between the Institute, acting as agent, and
the Pan-African Agency Responsible for the Great Green Wall, placing French
expertise at the heart of the operation.
• In the context of reinforcement of Franco-German partnerships for scientific
and technological cooperation with Africa, the AIRD was allocated the
responsibility of organising a tripartite call for projects on themes of health,
agriculture/food security, the environment, applied mathematics and computer
science. Four successful candidates were selected and presented at the FrancoGerman research forum in October 2011.
• The AIRD is closely involved with the action plan for the 8th Africa-European
Union Strategic Partnership (sciences, space and information technology), and
will coordinate the science theme for the 2011-2013 edition.
• The Agency has been contracted to coordinate the activities of the French
scientific organisations working on the relaunch of higher education and
research systems in Haiti. In a difficult context, these systems are still attractive
to students, with 256 requests for fellowships being processed. Six locations for
remote digital teaching (PENDHA) were opened in the country in 2011.
• Lastly, as part of the investissements d'avenir programme, the AIRD has
participated in the creation of four organisations for accelerating technological
transfers (SATT), as a shareholder or partner. Elsewhere, the agency proposed
the creation of Valorisation Sud, a thematic promotion consortium (CVT) in
partnership with Cirad, the Institut Pasteur and the Overseas universities.
Great Green Wall / Senegal
Computer lab / Haiti
Le COrA
“The COrA is a consultation and exchange committee for partners who share the same cause, scientific
research focused on development in the South. This is the primary task of the AIRD. The primary feature
of the Council is its composition which, unusually, is shared between representatives from ministries
or Northern organisations and high-level figures from the South. As a result - and this is our second
characteristic -, the strategic and scientific dialogue within the COrA to organise programmes and projects
draws from our individual experiences and interests without losing any of its dynamism. An excellent
listening capacity is required to capture all of the nuances of our members’ contributions, in order to
synthesise them and focus on activities that are best suited to the development of human capital.”
Jean-Pierre Ezin.
African Union Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, COrA Chairman.
41
42
Annual report 2011
The research programmes
Programmes to assist research in the South
The majority of research programmes the AIRD supports through implementation
or steering contain elements of training and consulting. They have been financed,
over a period of several years, by a start-up fund supplemented by the IRD.
This has enabled external funds to be raised from the ministry of foreign and
European affairs (Fonds de solidarité prioritaire, donations from embassies, etc.),
the AFD and a range of public and private donators, or to co-finance projects
in the South, like certain ANR programmes. This activity can be seen to have
leveraged by a factor of around 5 between 2007 and 2011.
Southern teams are funded in various scientific domains such as the environment,
climate and the function of ecosystems (Systerra), agronomy (Agrobiosphère)
and infectious diseases (MIE programme).
Programmes have been completed with
support from the Fonds de solidarité
prioritaire du ministère des Affaires
étrangères et européennes. Notable
examples are CORUS(1), AIRES-Sud(2)
and RIPIECSA(3). A variety of scientific
stakeholders from North and South
have been involved, demonstrating the
organising, mobilising and coordinating
role the AIRD plays in supporting and
developing research and training in the
South.
Irrigated landscape / Madagascar
Elsewhere, the Agency serves to construct or curate projects or activities as multipartnerships between North and South, to meet the demands of the South, with
the possibility of external funding. Such is the case for GUYAMAZON. TheCentre
de recherche et de veille sur les maladies émergentes de l’océan Indien (CRVOI), the Scientific interest group created in Réunion following the Chikungunya
crisis, is another example. The steering committee for CRV-OI’s “Faune sauvage”
project held its scientific conference halfway through the process. The notion
of a centre or network for research and monitoring of emerging illnesses in
the South may soon be applied to other diseases in other geographic areas.
As a result, and as part of the Aviesan Alliance in cooperation with the Institut
Pasteur, discussions were held to create a similar network in South-East Asia,
focusing on encephalitis.
The AIRD has also begun to progressively coordinate major regional programmes
resulting from projects generated by founder members(4) that involve numerous
partners from the North and the South. The fight against desertification, tropical
forest ecosystems, and emerging illnesses are the main themes.
(1) Coopération pour la recherche universitaire et scientifique.
(2) Appuis intégrés pour le renforcement des équipes scientifiques du Sud.
(3) Recherche interdisciplinaire et participative sur les interactions entre écosystèmes, climat et sociétés en Afrique de l’Ouest.
(4) Regional pilot programmes, Partnership operations, International research consortiums…
Contact:
dpf@ird.fr
Vector study / Réunion
Annual report 2011
RIPIECSA
Study of the climate/ Benin
Promoting scientific cooperation with the
South as part of the European Research Area
The Agency plays a major role in the formation of the European Research
Area, so that questions of research for development take a central role in the
programming. To achieve this, it supports research teams and is directly involved
in the networks and think tanks that contribute to the creation of European
agendas for research and innovation.
Support is given to the creation and monitoring of resulting projects through
direct collaborations with European and Southern researchers, particularly as
part of the FP7. Priority issues for research in the South are promoted among
European research networks.
The IRD is a stakeholder in 56 current projects, and is coordinator for 8 of
these. Nine were selected this year, including three as coordinator (SMILING(5),
NOPOOR(6) and INCOLAB CLIM-AMAZON(7)).
Elsewhere, the Agency is involved in numerous institutional programmes
such as the PACE-Net(8) programme, which aims to develop durable scientific
partnerships between Europe and the Pacific, the ERAFRICA network, which
strengthens scientific cooperation between Europe and Africa, and the
EULARINET network, between Europe and Latin America.
(5) Food, Agriculture, Fishing.
(6) Human and social sciences.
(7) Research mutualisation programme.
(8) The PACE-Net network includes 11 research institutions from the EU (France, Italy, Germany, Malta), the Pacific (Australia,
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea) and 2 regional organisations (the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (CPS) and the
University of the South Pacific (USP)).
The RIPIECSA (Recherche interdisciplinaire et participative sur les interactions entre écosystème, climat
et sociétés en Afrique de l'Ouest) programme continued with its cross-disciplinary activities, aimed at
integrating Southern teams into networks, including a major training strand and significant participation
from civil society. Seventeen African nations were partners to the programme, which sourced funding for
24 research projects between 2007 and 2011. The final FSP workshop, held in Cotonou between 18 and
21 October 2011, brought together 180 participants (115 from the West African nations or France) and
100 secondary school students participating in a poster event.
CORUS and AIRES Sud
These programmes were subject to competitive calls for offers, and led in the selection of 50 and
32 projects respectively. 150 teams from 30 African nations in total were supported, bringing together
around 1,500 researchers and students, of which 1,200 are in Africa. These projects have led to
800 publications (of which 340 were in academic journals), 1,000 scientific communications during
conferences, 263 doctoral theses, 405 dissertations at undergraduate and Masters level, and 20 threemonth visits to France. Eleven thematic workshops brought together 400 researchers, and facilitated
the building of international scientific networks.
GUYAMAZON
GUYAMAZON: Franco-Brazilian programme for scientific and academic cooperation
GUYAMAZON was launched in 2011 by the AIRD, working in partnership with the
French embassy in Brazil, the Fondations de soutien à la recherche for the states of
Amazonas (FAPEAM), Amapá (FAP Tumucumaque) and Maranhão (FAPEMA). Its aim
is to support the implementation of research projects, training, development and
innovation as part of scientific and technological collaborations between researchers Amazonian Flora / Brazil
and lecturer-researchers from French teaching and research institutions, primarily in Guiana, and their
equivalents from the Brazilian states concerned.
These projects relate to biodiversity in the Amazonian environment, agroecology, biotechnology, remote
sensing and aerospace engineering, healthcare and society.
43
44
Annual report 2011
Capacity-building in the South
In the North as in the South, researchers are required to find inventive
solutions to the major global challenges. To enable them to make the
scientific and technological choices that will support their development and
hold influence in international negotiations, the countries of the South must
benefit from an autonomous research, training and expertise capability. To
facilitate the acquisition of these skills by scientists and administrators from
Southern partner institutions, the AIRD is implementing tools such as the
training of doctoral students, assistance to emerging teams and participation
in the organisation of research and teaching systems in the South.
Supporting the training of individuals in
research professions
In order to support the training of individuals in research professions, several
systems have been put in place.
The Bourse de thèse (thesis fellowship) programme relates to the initial training
of scientific personnel from Southern countries. It supports doctoral students
who are writing a thesis as part of a research collaboration between a team
from the North and a team from the South. The aim is to integrate them into a
higher education and research system in a Southern country, thus building the
research capability in these countries. One hundred and twenty projects were
supported in 2011.
In order to prepare young researchers from the South for their future activities
and to facilitate freedom within networks, specific support is offered through
doctoral meetings and/or workshops. The most recent session in Montpellier
welcomed around fifty doctoral students of all nationalities, facilitating the
sharing of experiences.
Promoting the creation of new research teams
The Jeunes équipes AIRD (JEAI) programme enables the emergence of new
research teams and builds their capabilities, their autonomy and their
competitiveness in an international environment. It is aimed at researchers
and lecturer-researchers from the South working on shared topics who wish
to create a research team. Forty-four JEAIs were supported in 2011. This
programme has been supported by all of the AIRD founding members.
This is also the case for the Programme d'excellence pour l'enseignement et la
recherche au Sud (PEERS), which supports and solidifies cooperation between
professional scientists (researchers and lecturer-researchers) through the
implementation of a research project and shared training, innovation and
promotional activities. Twelve projects have been funded as a result, including
six new projects.
The Bourses d’échange scientifique et technologique (BEST) serve to assist
researchers, engineers and technicians from Southern countries who wish to
transfer to research or higher education institutions outside their own country.
This initiative guarantees them access to the logistical and intellectual support
they require to gain new skills and learn new techniques and innovative
methodologies. Thirty projects were supported in 2011.
Making use of the AIRD’s unifying role, Cirad has delegated administration
of its Southern doctoral fellowship allocations, part of the Doctorants du Sud
programme.
Contact:
sud.formation@ird.fr
Entomological training
Burkina Faso
Annual report 2011
Market / Benin
Helping Southern partners to structure their
education and research systems
In partnership with 8 West African institutions, the AIRD is coordinating the
GVal-Sécurité alimentaire programme. As a result, four cross-discipline groups
and a regional discussion forum with public and private decision-makers on
food security have been commissioned. The programme has also enabled the
organisation of a West African network of teaching and research institutions
specialising in this area.
Led by a researcher, a researcher-lecturer or a relevant engineer from an IRDsponsored unit in combination with at least one Southern partner, the BaseBuilding activities programme helps to finance short-term training and the
strengthening of institutional partnerships. Among 18 projects that have been
co-funded, training in sales promotion has been organised in Cameroon as well
as various summer schools and “Doctoriales”.
Other actions have included the International Doctoral Programme “Modelling
and complex systems” and the social sciences summer school in Tam Dao,
taking place for the third consecutive year in partnership with the Agence
française de développement, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences, the école
française d’Extrême-Orient and the University of Nantes. The support given to
the Programme régional de coopération universitaire France-Amérique latineCaraïbes (PREFALC) has been extended, and training in writing scientific projects
has been organised with the International Science Foundation.
The Agency also contributes to the development of training programmes such
as the International Masters in Entomology at the Abomey Calavi University
in Benin and the regional Masters in plant biotechnologies at Cheikh Anta
Diop University, Senegal, which involves 7 universities in West Africa and two
universities in the south of France.
Doctorants du Sud
Doctorants du Sud is a new programme to support and consolidate research
potential in Southern countries, implemented by the AIRD on behalf of Cirad.
This operation is aimed at students from Southern countries who wish to write a
thesis as part of a partnership with a Cirad research team and a Southern research
team, guaranteeing quality of supervision and work environment. Through this
programme, the AIRD hopes to contribute to the initial training for future
researchers who will help to build the scientific or technological capability in their
country once their theses are completed. 18 thesis topics have been offered in
the call for applications and 13 doctoral students have been selected to benefit
from a 3-year fellowship.
Young doctoral student
Montpellier
JEAI TQI2A
Technologie, qualité et innovations agro-alimentaires
“ The activities of JEAI TQI2A relate to the promotion of agri-food technologies in Cameroon, with support
from UMR Qualisud (Cirad, Universities Montpellier 1 et 2, SupAgro). Activities within the team that will
be developed as part of the AIRD's programme relate to: the jujube and its locally-processed product
(AFTER(1) project); husking sorghum by nixtamalization(2); improving the production of kilishi (strips of
dried meat); local production systems for bili-bili, a sorghum-based fermented drink; the characterisation
and promotion of amylolytic local flora ; the characterisation and promotion of the kernels of local mango
varieties; the study of local hydrocolloid gums and plants; the promotion of the Anacardium occidentale
fruit, and the characterisation and nutritional and functional promotion of Moringa leaves.”
Professeur Robert Ndjouenkeu, UMR Qualisud
(1) Programme FP7 African Food Tradition Revisited by Research.
(2) Ancient Mesoamerican process for soaking and cooking grains in an alkaline solution.
45
46
Annual report 2011
Innovating with the South
The promotion of Southern research results within the political and
socio-economic spheres is implemented through consultancy missions,
the protection and exploitation of intellectual property, and numerous
collaborations with industrial partners. This year, such activities have
generated almost €4m in revenue.
Expertise and consulting
Regularly in demand for advisory and consultation activities, the Institute
supervises knowledge transfer to decision-makers and directors in order to
guarantee effective societal promotion.
Two new expert panel reviews have been launched in the South. The first was
launched in Egypt in a difficult domestic context. Led by the President of the
Egyptian Appeal Court, it relates to the “organisation of the legal and judicial
system and the right to a reasonable delay in proceedings”. This twelfth expert
panel review is an innovation at a regional (Middle East), linguistic and thematic
level, and in the constitution of the panel (pluralistic, shared between North and
South). The second relates to “biodiversity and the development of productive
resources in the Bolivian Amazon”, and has led to an initial workshop.
A project was created for the “preservation and development strategy for Lake
Chad”, with support from the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the approval of
the French Global Environment Facility.
Furthermore, around ten institutional consultancies have been contracted by
governments, public authorities and development agencies on topics as varied
as palm oil and its impact on human nutrition, microcredit in Morocco, and the
creation of the Museum of Berber civilisation and art in Marrakech.
Canine leishmaniasis study / Montpellier
Contact:
dvs@ird.fr
13%
25%
10%
6%
Patents
by research field
Orphan diseases
HIV
6%
3%
6%
19%
Other diseases
Cosmetics
Food-Nutrition
Depollution-Environment-Bioremediation
Aquaculture
Plant genetics/Agronomy
5%
9%
Devices of measure
Other devices
Intellectual property and
technology transfer
One of the year’s major events was the market launch of CaniLeish® by the
Virbac group. The first ever vaccine against canine leishmaniasis, it opens up
important avenues for a cure to the illness in humans.
An agreement that guarantees conditions for access, security and archiving
of data relating to the monitoring of a cohort of 400 patients treated with
antiretroviral drugs in three healthcare establishments in Dakar has been signed
by the Centre régional de recherche et de formation à la prise en charge clinique
in Dakar, the ANRS and the IRD, a first in the field of legal security.
The current licensing contracts have generated €934,000 in annual fee
payments. This figure is clearly increasing and now stands at double the costs
involved in protecting researchers' inventions. Six new data operating licences
have also been signed.
Protection of the results obtained in IRD laboratories in
partnership with the South was achieved through 13 new
patents, bringing the total number of active patents to over
100. The overall aim is to encourage the joint filing of patents
with Southern partners.
In order to animate the transfer processes, the IRD has participated in several
events in the South, including the Forum technologique d’Afrique de l’Ouest
et centrale in Yaoundé, and the Réunion business meetings. The Institute’s
inventions are also included in a substantial portfolio of commercial proposals.
Annual report 2011
CaniLeish®
An industrial partnership at the origin of the first European vaccine against canine leishmaniasis
Bond’Innov
Business start-ups
The AIRD is pursuing its ambitions in the field of innovative business creation.
For example, in collaboration with the Bondy town council, the IRD has created
the Bond’innov business incubator, the first in France aimed at Southern
markets, particularly through the “virtual incubation” facility, which allows
remote support to be offered to business creation projects.
The INNODEV incubator in Dakar has also entered its initial operational phase.
Six projects have been selected, among which are the creation of a pan-African
centre for genotype sequencing and the Comptoir de recherche aquacole et
myticole in Senegal.
The IRD also organised the Forum des technologies 2011 in collaboration with
the Technopole de la Réunion, in order to detect the potential for business
creation and promote local talent.
Elsewhere, the programme for assistance to innovative business start-ups in
the Mediterranean (PACEIM), which aims to assist in the creation of around
a hundred businesses in the countries of the southern Mediterranean basin
(Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia), has grown in importance. During the
first phase of PACEIM, launched in 2010, 6 candidates were supported. Three
companies are now being created. The second call for projects will support
around thirty new entrepreneurs at a level of €35,000 each.
Industrial partners
The AIRD encourages the creation of managerial industrial partnerships with the
private sector relating to the South. As such, more than fifty agreements have
been signed, with a total value of €3.2m.
As part of the pôles de compétitivité government initiative, two projects have
been selected by the Fonds unique interministériel, with an overall value of
€4.3m over several years. In addition, the IRD has confirmed its participation
in the Institut Carnot ISIFoR(1), which brings together all experts in the field of
sustainable engineering of fossil resources, covering geosciences, mathematics,
chemistry and engineering sciences.
(1) Institute for the Sustainable Engineering of Fossil Resources.
(2) Host-vector-parasite interactions in Trypanosomatidae infections.
Visceral leishmaniasis is a parasitic illness that kills 60,000 people each year and constitutes a major
public health problem in Latin America, Asia, Africa and southern Europe. The canine population is a
reservoir for parasites that can potentially be passed on to humans. It is estimated
that 25 million dogs are exposed in the Mediterranean zone. IRD researchers have
been working for UMR INTERTRYP(2) on canine leishmaniasis and have developed
an in vivo immunity study model. A partnership between the IRD, Bio Véto Test
and Virbac has led to the development of a vaccine which is now available in
Portugal and France. CaniLeish® is the first European vaccine against visceral
canine leishmaniasis. It has created avenues of study for the development of a
vaccine effective in humans.
CaniLeish vaccine
Bond’innov
The first business incubator for the South
The Bond’innov incubator is led by Bondy Innovation, an association created in June 2011 by six
founding members: The town of Bondy, Conseil général de la Seine-Saint-Denis, Communauté
d’agglomération Est Ensemble, Biocitech life sciences park, Université Paris XIII and the IRD. Its aim is
to assist innovation start-up project sponsors in the areas of healthcare and biotechnology, the nonprofit sector, sustainable development and the environment, either in the South or in cooperation with
Southern countries. Bond’innov is based at the IRD France-Nord site.
PACEIM
Creating your business in the Mediterranean
“The reason for my participation in the PACEIM project was to benefit
from a structure that helped me with my deficiencies, particularly in
the fields of finance and start-up administration, in order to develop
an innovative and successful business. Thanks to the support from
the PACEIM programme, we are going to create a prototype, build a
comprehensive business plan to deal with financial institutions, and
develop a network of partners in Algeria, France, Germany and Bulgaria.”
Ismail Salhi,
PhD in IT, creator of 'Qleek’ and PACEIM 2010/2011 award winner.
47
48
Annual report 2011
Sharing knowledge
Disseminating knowledge and the delivery of research results to Southern
communities form a major part of the IRD's activities.
Capitalising on knowledge
Disseminating knowledge
Numerous tools have been developed in order to capitalise on the knowledge
gained from research. The Horizon database, which references IRD researchers’
publications, contains more than 80,000 articles, of which 45,000 are available
to the public. Seven thousand visitors consult the database daily, of which 50%
are from the South (Africa: 30%, Latin America: 11%) and 30% from mainland
France. The SPHAERA cartographic database includes more than 18,000 items
and the Indigo photo archive currently contains more than 49,000 images,
with 3,000 added recently. Lastly, to contribute to a better dissemination of
scientific information and audiovisual content to Southern countries, and to
offer targeted services to students and young researchers, the NumeriSud digital
campus project in Bondy is continuing to operate in partnership with the Ilede-France region.
The production of books, atlases and films can all play a part in delivering
research results. Several books have been published to this end, particularly
Poissons d’Afrique et peuples de l’eau, and Natural History of Santo, co-published
with the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle and the ProNatura NGO,
which relates the scientific findings of the Santo 2006 expedition. Improved
distribution is expected following the signing of an agreement with the Eyrolles/
Géodif group. In addition, fourteen documentaries have been produced by or
co-produced with the IRD, including the series Vivre en enfer and J’ai marché sur
la terre. The Institute has participated in around 80 national and international
festivals, including “Parisciences”. Six documentaries were awarded prizes.
A shared platform for geo-referenced scientific data is also under development.
The IRD has also supported 52 conferences, such as the international MISTRALS
conference in Malta, dedicated to the future of the Mediterranean basin, and
the 3rd international conference on public health in the Mekong region of Laos.
Geographic origin of visitors
on the Horizon database
Metropolitan France
Overseas France
East and southern Africa
and the Indian Ocean
West and Central Africa
30%
23%
Mediterranean region
Latin America
Asia and Pacific region
Rest of the world
13%
3%
11%
14%
11%
Contact:
dic@ird.fr
Cartographic publications, notably the Manuel de cartographie urbaine rapide,
the Cartes numériques mondiales des anomalies gravimétriques and the Atlas de
Nouvelle-Calédonie have enabled the sharing of scientific information, at the
same time providing geomatic training to 159 students.
6%
Annual report 2011
Increasing the Institute's reputation
The Institute’s visibility is a means of gauging its national and international
recognition. The Institute has benefited from a substantial media presence
with 2,125 articles, including around thirty articles published in Le Monde,
around forty programmes for Radio France International, and around twenty
for France Culture and LCI. Fifty-four press releases were published, in addition
to 29 scientific newssheets relating to major advances in research. Furthermore,
the Sciences au Sud periodical was distributed in an edition of 75,000 in
100 countries, increasing its reach among our partners.
Thanks to the new design, traffic on the IRD website has increased by 18%, with
5.5 million visitors. Ten new associated websites went online, and the IRD also
branched out into social networking via facebook, twitter and google+, reaching
new audiences. IRD websites were particularly helped by high visibility in the
South, and among internet users in Francophone Africa, who are some of the
most loyal visitors to the Institute website, despite the digital divide.
Elsewhere, the new IRD intranet went online, with more than 4,000 visitors each
month.
CIRD 10-year celebration / Burkina Faso
Science fair / New Caledonia
Reinforcing the bonds between science and
society
In France, as in the Southern nations, the IRD has deployed a wide range of
activities. The “Forêts tropicales humides, avenir de la planète” exhibition, curated
with Cirad and funded by the Institut francais as part of the International Year
of Forests, was presented in around thirty different locations. Conferences and
debates were also held for the benefit of research into forests, with contributions
from numerous scientists, notably in the Cité des Sciences, the Marseille regional
library, the Festival d’Avignon and for the Fête de la Science in Paris, Marseille
and Montpellier. This year was also enriched by co-curated exhibitions on the
IRD's flagship themes, such as migration and agronomic and plant biodiversity.
The qualified success of travelling exhibitions should also be noted, with around
one hundred presentations in France and abroad.
Furthermore, IRD researchers have participated in 250 public debates, of which
almost two thirds were held in Southern partner countries and French Overseas
Departments and Territories.
Several activities took place aimed at a youth audience. In total, nearly one
thousand young people took part in teaching activities in mainland France
and in Southern countries. Environmental awareness was an important axis,
particularly through the “De l’espace pour la mer” programme, developed in
partnership with Ifremer and the CNES.
Website / French Polynesia
Mapping work/Bondy
Media mobilisation / Benin
49
50
Annual report 2011
Annual report 2011
Resources
• 52 Human resources
• 54 Financial resources
• 56 The information system
Parity at the IRD
• 57 Platforms open to partners
ALIS
51
52
Annual report 2011
Percentage of IRD staff outside metropolitan France
Human resources
Recruitment and mobility
The recruitment policy has remained dynamic, with 50 posts made available,
24 for engineers and technicians and 26 research positions (12 researchers and
14 research directors). New positions have largely been focused on the South,
with 12 researchers outside mainland France (2 in West and Central Africa, 2 in
Latin America, 2 in Asia and the Pacific, 3 in the Mediterranean, 1 in Réunion and
2 in New Caledonia) and the recruitment of 6 new post-doctoral researchers, of
which 3 are in West Africa and the Indian Ocean, 1 in the Mediterranean and 1
in Latin America.
Presence in the South
Tenured
Non tenured
Total
Researchers
785
52
837
Non-research staff
738
Permanent local staff
Total
1,523
259
997
342
342
653
2,176
At 31/12/2011
The institute has strengthened its position
in the South, with more than 37% of staff
employed outside of mainland France: around
51% in Africa and the Mediterranean, 15%
in Latin America, 9% in Asia and the Pacific,
and 25% in overseas territories. 150 longduration missions were carried out, largely in
Africa and Latin America.
IRD staff by sex
Men
%
Women
%
Researchers
594
71.0
243
29.0
837
Non-research staff
419
42.0
578
58.0
997
225
65.8
117
34.2
342
1,238
56.9
938
43.1
2,176
Permanent local staff
Total
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
35%
37%
35%
34%
32%
34%
30%
Non-research staff 29%
24%
26%
25%
21%
22%
23%
21%
At 31/12/2011
The IRD employs 2,176 staff in total, including 837 researchers, 997 engineers
and technicians and 342 local staff. The average age of an IRD employee is
47 years old - 44 for women and 49 for men. 43% of the total staff are
women. Although still in the minority among our researchers, their proportion
has increased from 28% to 29% in the past year. The percentage of women
among our engineers and technicians has remained fixed at 58%.
IRD staff
2004
Researchers 34%
Total
At 31/12/2011
Training
Ongoing training has focused on support for
the changes and developments at the Institute.
Activity has included managerial support for
the new organisation, support for unit projects
and training for certain professions. In total,
45,420 hours of training were delivered to
1,629 trainees (compared to 39,134 hours in
2010). New forms of training have been offered,
in particular “first aid in isolated locations”.
Elsewhere, our welcome and integration days
have been relaunched, with 55 new employees
taking part.
Number of long-term
missions
Number of
Geographic zone long-term
missions
Africa
85
Latin America
33
Asia and Pacific
20
Europe and North America
1
French overseas regions
3
Frenche overseas collectivities
Total
At 31/12/2011
Institutional dialogue and
social policy
The IRD has implemented reforms to the social dialogue set out in our literature.
A new Technical Committee for Public Bodies, and Special Technical Committees
for France and overseas territories have been established, enabling all IRD agents
to be represented and to have their say with a local service.
The Institute also wanted to establish a location for social dialogue for its foreign
delegations, by means of Representation Councils. These form a social barometer
enabling a measurement of the social environment within the Institute.
IRD researchers by discipline
Research management
Chemistry
Mathematics
Medicine
Physics
Life sciences
Earth sciences
Human sciences
Engineering sciences
Social sciences
43
8
10
35
20
316
191
32
16
166
8
150
Total researchers
by discipline
837
At 31/12/2011
Annual report 2011
IRD staff
by geographic zone
Metropolitan France
|
Asia |
1,377
Total
71
Europe and North America |
2,176
Mediterranean region |
2
61
Representation
At 31/12/2011
Pacific |
West and Central Africa |
115
Latin America and Caribbean region |
308
East and southern Africa and Indian Ocean |
200
42
Several activities have been carried out to assist with the Institute's social policy.
As a result, all staff now have their own individual pension funds (1,700 funds were
paid into). In addition, the IRD has committed to implementing concrete actions that
encourage the hiring of disabled persons by signing an agreement with the Fonds pour
l'insertion des personnes handicapées dans la fonction publique (assistance fund for
employing disabled persons in the public sector). A new social service to assist with
insertion has been created by the management board. Lastly, an investigation into
social protection for local staff will enable clarification of the terms for each country
concerned.
Risk prevention
Significant actions in the field of risk prevention have included: the creation
of diagnostics for psychosocial risk at the IRD, the establishing of preventative
information systems before missions begin or during expatriation, and the completion
of a chemical risk evaluation at the Montpellier site. Routine government inspections
took place in Montpellier and Grenoble. The Institute has, in addition, taken the
necessary measures to transform the “Hygiene and safety committees” into “Hygiene,
safety and working conditions committees”.
IRD non-research staff
by occupational category
40,9%
24,1%
Life science
Chemistry and materials science
Engineering science and scientific instrumentation
3,7%
3,2%
Human and social sciences
Data processing, statistics and scientific computing
Documentation, culture, communication, publishing, ICTE
Property management, logistics, prevention and restoration
Management and piloting
At 31/12/2011
4,2%
7,4%
9,8%
6,7%
1
3
11
25
19
37
36
56
52
62
58
59
73
75
68
70
75
67
67
65
63
75
80
54
55
77
68
62
72
68
50
65
69
47
45
36
45
28
32
31
25
21
13
11
3
2
Total 2,176
Men
(Total: 1,238)
60
50
40
30
20
older than
65
65
64
63
62
61
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
53
52
51
50
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
10
age 10
Women
(Total: 938)
20
30
40
50
60
53
54
Annual report 2011
6.23
7.02
Research contract income
by source
European institutions
Financial resources
2.35
Agence nationale de la recherche
French ministries and local authorities
French public institutions
In addition to the launch of the new objectives contract, the IRD has also
reviewed its funding procedures for the three-year period from 2011-2013,
marking a rise in funding allocated to projects during a period where public
funding is generally being cut back. This renewal can be divided into three
phases: the full integration of the IRD into new research funding procedures,
the consolidation of resources in favour of instruments facilitating
cooperation between North and South, and the completion of the first stage
of the modernisation of the management system, begun in 2009.
Key figures
The Institute's net revenue reached d232.934m, against d232.609m expenditure.
The funding received can be broken down into: state funding at d201.682m
(86.6% of the total, compared with 88% in 2010), research contracts (d27.254m,
11.7%), research products, service provision and other products (d3.998m,
1.7%). The total salaries represent d167.155m, or 71.9% of expenditure (a 3%
increase on 2010). In total, the expenditure of our research units increased by
more than d9m compared with the previous financial year, and their budget
accounts for almost 63% of the Institute's financial resources.
Other French partners (public and private)
International partners (public and private)
3.52
5.04
Research contract
income by department
Amount (€M)
Resources and environment department
11.98
Health department
6.14
Management of research and training programmes
3.15
Representation
2.50
Societies department
2.05
Scientific outreach
0.71
Expertise and consulting in the South
0.44
Information and scientific culture for the South
0.13
Decentralised services
0.13
Total
201.68
IRD resources
Government subsidies
Research contracts
Income from research applications
Other subsidies and outputs
2.47
1.52
Total (€Million)
232.93
27.25
3.09
Human resources
27.25
Total (€Million)
0.02
27.25
Resources that are fully tailored to the
national funding operations for projects
Sixty percent of IRD research consortiums are integrated into scientific
programmes that are beneficiaries of the Investissements d’avenir scheme. This
year has also seen funding for research contracts confirmed, with d27.254m in
revenue received. This represents an increase of 4%, caused in particular by the
increase in power of European (including FP7 and FEDER) and foreign funding
(particularly in response to Agency programmes), which form 25% and 19.5%
of revenue respectively.
Annual report 2011
Research unit expenditure (€M)
Research department
Payroll
Operating costs
and investments
Total
Environment and Resources department
78.03
14.12
92.16
Health department
22.14
6.47
28.61
Societies department
22.7
2.67
25.37
Total
122.87
23.26
146.14
Research programme
Payroll
Operating costs
and investments
Total
Natural hazards and climate
5.65
1.03
6.68
Sustainable management of southern ecosystems
21.45
2.96
24.41
Continental and coastal waters
22.75
4.12
26.87
Food security in the South
22.88
4.76
27.64
Public health and health policy
23.29
6.54
29.83
Development and globalisation
26.85
3.85
30.7
Total
122.87
23.26
146.14
Payroll
Operating costs
and investments
Total
Research and training programmes in the South
0.85
5.34
6.19
Expertise and consulting in the South
0.59
0.87
1.46
Information and Scientific Culture for the the South
4.85
1.8
6.65
Geostrategy and partnership
10.41
3.42
13.83
Expenditure on cross-cutting activities (€M)
Scientific outreach
2.65
2.02
4.67
Scientific assessment, ethics
0.34
0.4
0.74
In-service training
0.19
1.25
1.44
AIRD Agency
0.67
0.85
1.52
Naval resources (operation and investment)
0.11
4.7
4.81
0.58
0.58
20.66
21.23
41.89
Payroll
Operating costs
and investments
Total
Welfare
0.22
1.52
1.74
Information systems
3.08
5.99
9.07
Maintenance
0.77
0.77
Major renovations
0.19
0.19
Construction
0.01
0.01
Major scientific capital equipment
Total
A significant financial operation to support instruments
that enable grounded research in the South
Incentive credits have allowed us to support teams to a level of almost d1.9m. The financial
efforts agreed in 2010 to support regional pilot programmes have been maintained, with the
aim of preserving the dynamic partnerships with scientific communities in the South with shared
geographical and thematic priorities. Allocated contributions are valued at d740,000. For example,
the “GOPS centre for long-term monitoring of terrestrial and marine ecosystems in the South
Pacific” and the programmes on “rural societies, environment and climate in West Africa” and
“tropical rainforests” have received funding of d320,000. In addition, the credits made available
to laboratories and research consortiums (LMI/UMI) have increased by more than one third, to
d332,000.
Lastly, the programmes co-financed by the AIRD are also contributing to this new position. As
such, nearly one million euros in support has been released from their intervention fund to assist
the deployment of three flagship programmes relating to the Institute research teams' priorities
in terms of areas and topics of intervention: SYSTERRA, in the field of eco-cultivation; SICMED
(continental surface and interface in the Mediterranean); and the Franco-Egyptian IRD-STDF(1)
programme for funding collaborations between research teams.
IRD expenditure
by type
64.09
167.15
Operating costs and non-programmed investments
Programmed investments
Support function expenditure (€M)
Total (€Million)
Decentralised services
9.13
5.29
14.42
Central services
10.81
7.04
17.85
0.1
0.1
Financial operations
Payroll
Other general expenses
0.37
0.04
0.41
Total
23.61
20.95
44.56
232.6
1.36
Expenditure by geographical region
Metropolitan France
Overseas France
Mediterranean
Africa and Indian Ocean
Latin America
Asia
Other countries
(1) Science and Technology Development Fund.
133.69
22.96
8.79
36.04
17.81
12.40
0.89
Total (€Million)
232.6
55
56
Annual report 2011
The Information system
The IRD has adopted a new blueprint for the information and telecommunications
system (SDSIT), working in tandem with the objectives contract, with the
following priorities: integrating the IRD into the international community;
progressing the Agency and partnerships in the South, especially by supporting
the creation of shared scientific platforms; and supplying all information
required to run the Institute as an agency operator. The implementation of this
new management plan will benefit from co-funding in cooperation with the
Institute's partners. The SDSIT 2011-2015 plan is already 5% complete.
Requirements for controlling payroll and jobs have been set out in an IT
specifications file. A tool for recording staff activity has been created to
gradually build up an infocentre. Various improvements have been made to the
agreement management tool in order to simplify the decision-making process
Numerous systems also contribute to the management of resources, activities
and partnerships.
The financial administration IT system has been deployed in various units in
Bondy and Montpellier to assist with the decentralisation of purchasing. An
optimisation plan for the HR administration system has been initiated. The IRD
has signed up for the procedure led by the AMUE(1) and the CNRS that aims
to homogenise management rules and systems for research consortiums. In
addition, GIS (geographic information system) licences have been made available
to IRD researchers and partners, with training and methodology provided.
On behalf of the AIRD and in cooperation with RENATER(2) and Cirad, support
was given to WACREN, an African organisation that seeks to create a network for
higher education and research IT systems in West Africa. On this topic, various
appraisals and knowledge exchanges took place with the government of Benin.
Laboratory / Bondy
Parity at the IRD
Professional equality is a major issue for our organisation, particularly in our
partnerships with the South. It forms part of a national policy in which the
Public sector has a duty to lead by example. Nevertheless, inequalities are still
in evidence and very few women hold managerial jobs within the Institute. The
IRD has only one woman on its managerial committee, 5 managers in central
services at our headquarters, 8 female unit directors out of 56 and only 3 female
representatives.
An Equality initiative was created in November 2011 in order to create
systematic and durable support for issues of professional equality. It is based on
an Equality committee made up of sixteen experts and public figures, from the
North and the South.
The initiative will begin with the observation of equality conditions within the
Institute, continuing with a comparative analysis of the situation. The Equality
committee will then analyse the principal hindrances and obstacles encountered
by women in the workplace, to enable the development of a policy that closely
meets the needs of our agents and offers concrete solutions to promote careers
and improve working conditions for women.
(1) Agency for cooperation between universities.
(2) National telecommunications network for technology, teaching and research.
Lascar volcano / Chile
Annual report 2011
57
Platforms open to partners
The IRD is committed to sharing its resources to create installations that are
equipped with the latest technology, not only in mainland France, but also
in French overseas territories and abroad. Several technological platforms
allow for state-of-the-art research, such as ALYSES, dedicated to the study
of tropical soil and sediments, or CapMédiTrop, for the genetic analysis of
cultivated tropical plants. In the field of healthcare, several medical research
laboratories are helping to find a response to the problems of public health in
Southern countries, such as those working with HIV in Thailand or malaria in
Benin. The CNEV (French national vector research facility) is also part of this
operation against infectious diseases. Significant resources are also allocated
to the observation and study of ecosystems: Satellite networks (SEAS),
observatories for environmental research (ORE) and tropical herbariums in
Nouméa and Cayenne. In addition, the oceanographic vessel Alis is navigating
its way around the Pacific.
Satellites to help the environment
Several satellite-enhanced environmental monitoring stations (SEAS) are run by
the IRD. SEAS-Guiana, SEAS-Gabon and SEAS-Indian Ocean give us a genuine
spatial observatory for the protection of forests in the Amazon and Central
Africa as well as for monitoring the marine and coastal environment in the
south-west Indian Ocean. These technology platforms stimulate the creation of
scientific knowledge, and innovative services for resource management and the
development and monitoring of territories. Combined with field observations, the
satellite data acquired and processed at these stations is made available to local
and scientific communities. Activities relating to training, the strengthening of
capacities and technological transfers are also established around these projects.
Remote sensing / Gabon
Combating malaria in Benin
Created in 2011, the Laboratory for integrated malaria control is an LMI
grouping together all research activities in Benin that are linked to the
fight against Malaria. This technical and scientific platform supports the
development of research programmes into tropical diseases and to combat
vectors. It includes several IRD units, the Science Faculty from AbomeyCalavi University, the Institut des sciences biomédicales appliquées, the
Centre de recherche entomologique de Cotonou and the Centre de lutte
intégrée contre le paludisme.
A dedicated programme for the Mediterranean
Created in 2008, MISTRALS (Mediterranean Integrated STudies at Regional And
Local Scales) is dedicated to understanding the environmental functions of the
Mediterranean basin under the effects of global change. It aims to coordinate
interdisciplinary research and study programmes relating to the atmosphere, the
hydrosphere, the lithosphere and paleoclimates, including environmental ecology
and human and social sciences. The aim is to achieve a better understanding
and control of the mechanisms that shape and influence the landscape, the
environment and the anthropization of the Mediterranean region. MISTRALS
brings together the major French research organisations (Ademe, BRGM, CEA,
Cemagref, Cirad, Cnes, CNRS, IFP, Ifremer, Inar, IRD, IRSN, Météo-France) and
aims to share its work with all Mediterranean countries.
ALYSES platform / Bondy
Combating malaria / Benin
Contact:
dgds@ird.fr
58
Annual report 2011
Annual report 2011
Appendices
• 60 The IRD decision bodies
• 61 Central services: our gallery
• 62 The research units
• 64 IRD addresses world-wide
59
60
Annual report 2011
The IRD decision bodies
Board
of trustees
Chairman
Michel Laurent
Representatives
of parent ministries
Ministry of Research
• Didier Hoffschir
Head of bio resources, ecology and agronomy
sector for the general directorate for research
and innovation at the Ministry of Higher
Education and Research
• Christiane Kériel
Departmental advisor, higher education
directorate
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
• Hélène Duchène
Director for scientific and academic cooperation,
general directorate for international cooperation
and development (DGCID)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Cooperation
• Nathalie Broadhurst
Deputy director for development strategies,
general directorate for global economy and
development strategies
Ministry of the Budget, Public Accounting and
the Civil Service
• Grégory Cazalet
Head of the bureau for research and higher
education, budget director
Ministry for Overseas Territories
• Philippe Leraitre
Assistant deputy director, department of public
policy for the general overseas delegation
External members
• Pascal Saffache
President, Antilles and Guiana University
• Alain Fuchs
CNRS Chairman
• Jean-François Delfraissy
Director of the institute of multi-organism
microbiology and infectious diseases division
of INSERM
• Gérard Matheron
President of the Board of Trustees, Cirad
• Nadine Lavignotte
President of Blaise Pascal University,
Clermont-Ferrand
• Rahma Bourqia
Sociologist, anthropologist, former President of
Hassan II University-Mohammedia, Morocco
• Achille Massougbodji
Doctor, faculty professor of health sciences,
Cotonou, Benin
• Rémi Genevey
AFD Strategic Director
Staff representatives
• Didier Bogusz
STREM-SGEN-CFDT, research staff
representative, 1st class research director,
UMR DIADE
• Jean-Claude Louizy-Gabriel
SNPREES-FO, IT staff representative,
assistant engineer
• Éric Delacour
SNTRS-CGT-IRD, IT staff representative,
2nd class research engineer
• Alain Froment
SNCS-FSU, research staff representative,
1st class research director, UMR PALOC
• Nolwen Henaff
STREM-SGEN-CFDT, research staff
representative, 1st class research officer,
UMR DIADE
• Jean-Louis Janeau
STREM-SGEN-CFDT, IT staff representative,
1st class research engineer, UMR BIOEMCO
Scientific
council
Chairman
Éric Servat
Hydrologist, director of UMR HydroSciences
Vice-Chairman
Catherine Perrot-Rechenmann
Biologist, CNRS research director
Appointed members
• Hélène Budzinski
Chemistry - Ecotoxicology: organic
contaminants
• Dominique Darbon
Political sciences: Public administration
• Pierpaolo Faggi
Development geography
• Claire Infante-Rivard
Medicine: epidemiology
• Rossa Issolah
Information sciences - agronomy
• Claire Julian-Reynier
Public health medicine - Epidemiology,
biostatistics, healthcare economics
• Sinata Koulla-Shiro
Medicine, microbiology and infectious diseases
• Louis Legendre
Biological Oceanography, marine
biogeochemistry, digital ecology
(member of the Royal Society of Canada Academy of Sciences)
• Hechmi Louzir
Immunology, vaccinology, molecular genetics,
infectious/parasitic diseases
• Pierre Mazzega
Integrated modelling of environment
and society
• Mame Oureye Sy
Plant physiology and biotechnologies
• Catherine Perrot-Rechenmann
(Vice-Chairman)
Plant biology: cellular and molecular biology,
genetics
• Silvia Restrepo
Plant biology, phytopathology
• Luiz-Augusto Toledo Machado
Meteorology, climatology - Remote sensing
and microscales
• Annick Weiner
Applied mathematics - Molecular physics
Elected members
Constituency I - IRD Research directors
• Didier Fontenille
Public health, medical entomology
• Jean-Pierre Guyot
Microbial ecophysiology: nutrition and food
science
• Geneviève Michon
Ethnobotanist (geographer): environment and
ethnosciences, forest/society relationships
• Luc Ortlieb
Quaternary and tropical paleoclimatology
geologist
• Sylvain Ouillon
Coastal oceanographer
• Éric Servat (chairman)
Hydrology
Constituency II - IRD research staff
• Vincent Corbel
Medical entomology
• Patrick Livenais
Demography
• Bernard Moizo
Socio-environmental relationships,
representation and practice
• François Molle
Catchment area water management
• Hugo Perfettini
Geophysics
• Henri Robain
Geophysics of spatial and temporal variation
in soil water content
Constituency III - IRD engineers and
technicians
• Laurent Drapeau
Geographic information system,
spatial analysis
• Nadine Dessay
Remote sensing
• Marc Soria
Eco-ethology
Sectorial scientific
commissions (CSS)
Research and
applications management
commissions (CGRA)
Chairpersons
CSS1: Physics and chemistry of the Earth’s
environment
Nicolas Arnaud
CSS2: Biological and medical sciences
Claudio Lazzari
CSS3: Science of ecological systems
Jean-François Agnese
CSS4: Human and social sciences
Mireille Volahanta Razafindrakoto
CGRA1: Engineering and expertise
Michel Petit
CGRA2: Administration and management
Isabelle Henry
Annual report 2011
Central services : our gallery
At 1 july 2011
Michel Laurent
Chairman
Ariel Crozon
Cabinet
Jean-Marc Hougard
Anne Coudrain
Geostrategy and partnership
department
Scientific evaluation
department
Bernard Dreyfus
Michel Bouvet
Science division
AIRD division
Robert Arfi
René Bally
Jean-Yves Villard
Resources division
Anne-Marie Tièges
Environnement and
Resource department
Human resources
Management of research
and training programmes
in the South
Gilles Bernard
Finance
Hervé Tissot-Dupont
Health department
Marie-Noëlle Favier
Information and scientific
culture for the South
Patricia Bursachi
General operations
management
Christine Leccia
Legal affairs
Laurent Vidal
Luc Mesquida
Accounting office
Societies department
Stéphane Raud
Expertise and consulting
in the South
Gilles Poncet
Information systems
61
62
Annual report 2011
The research units
ABBADIE Luc | IRD Unit 211
UMR BIOEMCO \ Biogeochemistry and ecology
of land-based environments
luc.abbadie@ens.fr
www.biologie.ens.fr/bioemco
COUTERON Pierre | IRD Unit 123
UMR AMAP \ Plant architecture, functioning
and evolution
pierre.couteron@ird.fr
amap.cirad.fr
AUFFRAY Jean-Christophe | IRD Unit 226
UMR ISE-M \ Institute for evolution sciences,
Montpellier
jean-christophe.auffray@univ-montp2.fr
www.isem.cnrs.fr
CUNY Gérard | IRD Unit 177
UMR INTERTRYP \ Host-vector-parasite
interactions in trypanosome diseases
gerard.cuny@ird.fr
www.sleeping-sickness.ird.fr
AUGER Pierre | IRD Unit 209
UMI UMMISCO \ Mathematical and computer
modelling of complex systems
pierre.auger@ird.fr
www.ummisco.ird.fr
CURY Philippe | IRD Unit 212
UMR EME \ Exploited marine ecosystems
philippe.cury@ird.fr - philippe.cury@ifremer.fr
www.umr-eme.org
BERGER Jacques | IRD Unit 204
UMR NUTRIPASS \ Prevention of malnutrition
and associated pathologies
jacques.berger@ird.fr
www.nutripass.ird.fr
CAPELLE Bernard | IRD Unit 206
UMR IMPMC \ Mineralogy and physics of
condensed media
bernard.capelle@impmc.upmc.fr
www.impmc.upmc.fr
CARDIN Philippe | IRD Unit 219
UMR ISTerre \ Earth sciences
philippe.cardin@ird.fr
direction.isterre@ujf
grenoble.fr
www.isterre.fr
CHARBIT Yves | IRD Unit 196
UMR CEPED \ Centre for population and
development
yves.charbit@ird.fr
www.ceped.org
DE LAMBALLERIE Xavier | IRD Unit 190
UMR EPV \ Emergence of viral pathologies
xavier.de-lamballerie@univmed.fr
DELAPORTE Éric | IRD Unit 233
UMI TransVIHMI \ Epidemiological transitions,
translational research applied to HIV and
infectious diseases
eric.delaporte@ird.fr
www.umi233.com
DELORON Philippe | IRD Unit 216
UMR Mother-and-infant health in relation to
tropical infections
philippe.deloron@ird.fr
www.umr216.ird.fr
DONABÉDIAN Anaïd | IRD Unit 135
UMR SEDYL \ Language dynamics and structure
adonabedian@inalco.fr
sedyl.cnrs.fr
GAIRIN Jean Edouard | IRD Unit 152
UMR PHARMA-DEV \ Pharmacochemistry and
pharmacology for development
jean-edouard.gairin@univ-tlse3.fr
jean-edouard.gairin@ird.fr
www.pharmadev.ird.fr
www.ird.fr/umr152/ - www.ups-tlse.fr
GARIN Patrice | IRD Unit 183
UMR G-EAU \ Water: management,
stakeholders and uses
patrice.garin@irstea.fr - g-eau@ird.fr
www.g-eau.net
GOURIOU Yves | IRD Unit 191
US IMAGO \ Instrumentation, analytical
resources and monitoring in geophysics and
oceanography
yves.gouriou@ird.fr
www.brest.ird.fr/us191
GREGOIRE Michel | IRD Unit 234
UMR GET \ Geosciences and environment,
Toulouse
michel.gregoire@get.obs-mip.fr
www.get.obs-mip.fr
GUBERT Flore | IRD Unit 225
UMR DIAL \ Development, institutions and
globalisation
flore.gubert@ird.fr - gubert@dial.prd.fr
www.dial.prd.fr
GUICHAOUA André | IRD Unit 201
UMR D&S \ Societies and development
andre.guichaoua@ird.fr
recherche-iedes.univ-paris1.fr
DUBOIS Jean-Luc | IRD Unit 236
UMI RESILIENCES
jean-luc.dubois@ird.fr
GUILLAUD Dominique | IRD Unit 208
UMR PALOC \ Local heritage
dominique.guillaud@ird.fr
www.paloc.ird.fr
CHOTTE Jean-Luc | IRD Unit 210
UMR ECO&SOLS \ Functional ecology and
biogeochemistry of soils and agrosystems
jean-luc.chotte@ird.fr
www.montpellier.inra.fr/ecosols
DUFOUR Sylvie | IRD Unit 207
UMR BOREA \ Biology of aquatic ecosystems
and organisms
dufour@mnhn.fr
www.mnhn.fr/mnhn/UMR7208
HAMON Serge | IRD Unit 232
UMR DIADE \ Plant diversity, adaptation
and development
serge.hamon@ird.fr
www.diade.ird.fr - www.diade-research.fr
COLLEYN Jean-Paul | IRD Unit 194
UMR CEAf \ Centre for African studies
stceaf@ehess.fr - colleyn00@gmail.com
ceaf.ehess.fr
FONTENILLE Didier | IRD Unit 224
UMR MIVEGEC \ Infectious diseases and vectors :
ecology, genetics, evolution and control
didier.fontenille@ird.fr
www.mivegec.ird.fr
HUYNH Frédéric | IRD Unit 228
UMR ESPACE-DEV \ Spatialisation for
development
frederic.huynh@ird.fr
www.espace.ird.fr
JOURDAIN Gonzague | IRD Unit 174
UMI IRD-PHPT \ Clinical epidemiology, motherand-infant health and HIV in Southeast Asia
gonzague.jourdain@ird.fr
www.phpt.org
KERR Yann | IRD Unit 113
UMR CESBIO \ Space-based study of biosphere
direction@cesbio.cnes.fr
www.cesbio.ups-tlse.fr
LALOË Francis | IRD Unit 220
UMR GRED \ Governance, risks, environment,
development
francis.laloe@ird.fr
www.gred.ird.fr
LE GUYADER Hervé | IRD Unit 148
UMR SAE \ Systematics, adaptation, evolution
herve.le_guyader@upmc.fr
www.upmc.fr
LEBEL Thierry | IRD Unit 012
UMR LTHE \ Transfers in hydrology and
environment
thierry.lebel@ird.fr
direction-lthe@ujf-grenoble.fr
www.lthe.fr
LEBRUN Michel | IRD Unit 040
UMR LSTM \ Tropical and Mediterranean
symbioses
lebrun@univ-montp2.fr
www.mpl.ird.fr/lstm
LEFORT Olivier | IRD Unit 239
UMS FOF \ French oceanographic fleet
olivier.lefort@ifremer.fr
LEZINE Anne-Marie | IRD Unit 182
UMR LOCEAN \ Oceanography and climate:
experimentation and numerical approaches
direction@locean-ipsl.upmc.fr
www.locean-ipsl.upmc.fr
MAZUREK Hubert | IRD Unit 151
UMR LPED \ Population, environment,
development
hubert.mazurek@ird.fr
www.lped.org
MOATTI Jean-Paul | IRD Unit 912
UMR SESSTIM \ Economics and social science
for health, processing of medical information
jean-paul.moatti@ird.fr
jean-paul.moatti@inserm.fr
http://www.se4s-orspaca.org/
MOLENAT Jérôme | IRD Unit 144
UMR LISAH \ Soil-agrosystem-hydrosystem
interactions
umr-lisah-dir@supagro.inra.fr
www.umr-lisah.fr
MOREL Yves | IRD Unit 065
UMR LEGOS \ Space-based geophysics
and oceanography
directeur@legos.obs-mip.fr
www.legos.obs-mip.fr
NICOLE Michel | IRD Unit 186
UMR RPB \ Plant resistance to pests
and diseases
michel.nicole@ird.fr
www.mpl.ird.fr/umr-rpb
PAYRI Claude | IRD Unit 227
UR CoRéUs 2 \ Biocomplexity of coral
ecosystems in the Indian Ocean and Pacific
claude.payri@ird.fr - www.coreus.ird.fr
RAGUENEAU Olivier | IRD Unit 195
UMR LEMAR \ Science of marine environment
olivier.ragueneau@univ-brest.fr
www-iuem.univ-brest.fr/UMR6539/
RAOULT Didier | IRD Unit 198
UMR URMITE \ Emerging tropical
and infectious diseases
didier.raoult@ird.fr
didier.raoult@gmail.com
ROY Claude | IRD Unit 197
UMR LPO \ Ocean physics
claude.roy@ird.fr
www.ifremer.fr/lpo
SANJUAN Thierry | IRD Unit 215
UMR PRODIG \ Research cluster on organisation
and dissemination of geographical information
tsanjuan@univ-paris1.fr
www.prodig.cnrs.fr
Annual report 2011
SCHIANO Pietro | IRD Unit 163
UMR LMV \ Magmas and volcanoes
p.schiano@opgc.univ-bpclermont.fr
www.obs.univ-bpclermont.fr/lmv
SEMPERE Richard | IRD Unit 235
UMR MIO \ Mediterranean Institute
of Oceanography
richard.sempere@univmed.fr
mio.pytheas.univ-amu.fr (en construction)
SERVAT Éric | IRD Unit 050
UMR HSM \ HydroSciences Montpellier
eric.servat@ird.fr - hsm@ird.fr
www.hydrosciences.org
SILVAIN Jean-François | IRD Unit 072
UR BEI \ Biodiversity and evolution of plant/
insect pest/biocontrol organism complexes
jean-francois.silvain@ird.fr
www.legs.cnrs-gif.fr
STREIFF-FENART Jocelyne | IRD Unit 205
UMR URMIS \ Migration and society
streiff@unice.fr
www.unice.fr/urmis
TATONI Thierry | IRD Unit 237
UMR IMBE \ Mediterranean institute of
biodiversity and marine and continental
ecology
thierry.tatoni@imbe.fr
www.imbe.fr
THOUVENY Nicolas | IRD Unit 161
UMR CEREGE \ European centre for research
and teaching in environmental geoscience
direction@cerege.fr
thouveny@cerege.fr
www.cerege.fr
TRIC Emmanuel | IRD Unit 082
UMR GEOAZUR \ Geosciences azur
direction@geoazur.unice.fr
geoazur.oca.eu
TROUSSELLIER Marc | IRD Unit 238
UMR ECOSYM \ Ecology of coastal marine
systems
marc.troussellier@univ-montp2.fr
www.ecosym.univ-montp2.fr
VANLERBERGHE Flavie | IRD Unit 022
UMR CBGP \ Biology centre for population
management
dircbgp@supagro.inra.fr
www1.montpellier.inra.fr/CBGP
Observatories
ARNAUD Nicolas
OSU OREME \ Mediterranean environment
monitoring
oreme@univ-montp2.fr
www.oreme.univ-montp2.fr
FILY Michel
OSU OSUG \ Grenoble astrophysics
observatory
obs-dir@ujf-grenoble.fr
http://portail.osug.fr/
PAULET Yves-Marie
OSU IUEM \ European institute for marine
studies
direction.iuem@univ-brest.fr
www-iuem.univ-brest.fr
SOLER Pierre
OSU OMP \ Midi-Pyrénées observatory
pierre.soler@ird.fr
dir@obs-mip.fr
www.obs-mip.fr
63
64
Annual report 2011
IRD addresses world-wide
Metropolitan
France
Overseas
France
Head office
IRD
44 bd de Dunkerque
CS 90009
13572 Marseille cedex 02
France
Tél.: 33 (0)4 91 99 92 00
Fax: 33 (0)4 91 99 92 22
www.ird.fr
French Guiana
Jean-Marie FOTSING
IRD
0,275 km Route de Montabo
BP 165, 97323 Cayenne cedex
Tél.: 594 (0)5 94 29 92 92
Fax: 594 (0)5 94 31 98 55
Courriel: guyane@ird.fr
www.cayenne.ird.fr
Northern France Centre
Corinne ROULAND-LEFÈVRE
IRD
32, avenue Henri Varagnat
93143 Bondy cedex
Tél.: +33 (0)1 48 02 55 00
Fax: +33 (0)1 48 47 30 88
Courriel: direction.france-nord@ird.fr
www.france-nord.ird.fr
La Réunion
Regions of expertise: Mayotte,
Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean
Alain BORGEL
IRD
• Postal address:
BP 50172
97492 Sainte-Clotilde cedex
• Physical address:
Parc technologique universitaire
2, rue Joseph Wetzell
97490 Sainte-Clotilde, La Réunion
Tél.: 262 (0)2 62 52 89 19
Fax: 262 (0)2 62 48 33 53
Courriel: la-reunion@ird.fr
www.la-reunion.ird.fr
Southern France centre
Yves DUVAL
IRD
911 avenue Agropolis
BP 64501
34394 Montpellier cedex 5
Tél.: 33 (0)4 67 41 61 00
Fax: 33 (0)4 67 41 63 30
Courriel: montpellier@ird.fr
www.france-sud.ird.fr
Martinique
Regions of expertise:
Guadeloupe - Saint-Barthélémy Saint-Martin - Caribbean basin
Patrick QUÉNÉHERVÉ
IRD, 3, rue de la Rose des vents
BP 8006
97259 Fort-de-France cedex
Tél.: 596 (0)5 96 39 77 39
Fax: 596 (0)5 96 50 32 61
Courriel: martinique@ird.fr
www.martinique.ird.fr
New Caledonia
Regions of expertise:
Australia - Fiji - New Zealand - Papua
New Guinea - Tonga - Vanuatu
Gilles Fédière
IRD, 101, promenade Roger Laroque
Anse Vata - BP A5
98848 Nouméa cedex
Tél.: (687) 26 10 00
Fax: (687) 26 43 26
Courriel: nouvelle-caledonie@ird.fr
www.nouvelle-caledonie.ird.fr
French Polynesia
Philippe LACOMBE
IRD
Chemin de l’Arahiri - PK 3,5
Arue - BP 529
98713 Papeete - Tahiti
Tél.: (689) 47 42 00
Fax: (689) 42 95 55
Courriel: polynesie@ird.fr
www.polynesie.ird.fr
Africa
South Africa
Regions of expertise: Angola Botswana - Mozambique - Zimbabwe
Yves SAVIDAN
IRD - CNRS at The Innovation Hub
P.O. Box 66
0087 Pretoria
Afrique du Sud
Tél.: 27 (0) 12 844 0117/0118
Fax: 27 (0) 12 844 0119
Courriel: afrique-du-sud@ird.fr
Benin
Regions of expertise:
Ghana - Nigeria - Togo
Bruno BORDAGE
• Postal address:
IRD-SCAC
Ambassade de France au Bénin
s/c Service de la valise diplomatique
92438 Chatillon cedex - France
• Physical address:
Résidence “Les Cocotiers”
08 BP 841 - Cotonou
Bénin
Tél.: (229) 21 30 03 54
Fax: (229) 21 30 88 60
Courriel: benin@ird.fr
www.benin.ird.fr
Burkina Faso
Region of expertise: Côte d’Ivoire
Jean-Marc LEBLANC
IRD
688, avenue Pr. Joseph Ki-Zerbo,
Secteur 4, 01 BP 182
Ouagadougou 01
Burkina Faso
Tél.: (226) 50 30 67 37 / 39
Fax: (226) 50 31 03 85
Courriel: burkina-faso@ird.fr
www.burkina-faso.ird.fr
Cameroon
Regions of expertise:
Congo - Gabon - Equatorial Guinea Central African Republic -Democratic
Republic of the Congo
Xavier GARDE
IRD
Rue 1095 Joseph Essono Balla
Quartier Elig Essono
BP 1857 - Yaoundé
Cameroon
Tél. : (237) 22 20 15 08
(237) 22 21 17 36
Fax : (237) 22 20 18 54
Courriel: cameroun@ird.fr
www.cameroun.ird.fr
Egypt
Regions of expertise:
Jordan - Lebanon - Libya - Syria
Said JABBOURI
• Postal address:
IRD
P.O. Box 26 - 12211 Giza - égypte
• Physical address:
46, rue 7 - 11431 Maadi
Le Caire - égypte
Tél.: (202) 23 59 71 53
Fax: (202) 23 78 33 08
Courriel : egypte@ird.fr
www.eg.ird.fr
Kenya
Regions of expertise:
Ethiopia - Uganda - Tanzania
Jean ALBERGEL
IRD - C/o ICRAF
United Nations Avenue, Gigiri
P.O. Box 30677
00100 Nairobi
Kenya
Tél.: (254 20) 722 47 58
Fax: (254 20) 722 40 01
Courriel: kenya@ird.fr
www.ird.fr/kenya
Mali
Region of expertise: Guinea
Bruno SICARD
IRD
Numéro 2000, rue 234
Quartier Hippodrome - BP 2528
Bamako
Mali
Tél.: (223) 20 21 05 01
(223) 20 21 05 12
Fax: (223) 20 21 64 44
Courriel: mali@ird.fr
www.mali.ird.fr
Morocco
Benoît LOOTVOET
IRD
15, rue Abou Derr
BP 8967
10000 Rabat-Agdal
Maroc
Tél.: (212) 537 67 27 33 ou 12 66
Fax: (212) 537 67 27 43
Courriel: maroc@ird.fr
www.ird.fr/maroc
Niger
Region of expertise: Chad
Gilles BEZANÇON
IRD
276, avenue de Maradi
BP 11416 - Niamey
Niger
Tél.: (227) 20 75 31 15 / 26 10
(227) 20 75 25 30
Fax: (227) 20 75 28 04
Courriel: niger@ird.fr
www.ird.ne
Senegal
Regions of expertise: Cape Verde Gambia - Guinea Bissau - Mauritania
Georges DE NONI
IRD - Immeuble Mercure
Avenue Georges Pompidou
X Wagane Diouf - BP 1386 - CP 18524
Dakar - Sénégal
Tél.: (221) 33 849 83 30
Fax: (221) 33 849 83 48
Courriel: senegal@ird.fr
www.senegal.ird.fr
Tunisia
Region of expertise: Algeria
Patrick THONNEAU
IRD - BP 434 - 5, impasse Chehrazade
El Menzah 4 - 1004 Tunis - Tunisie
Tél.: 216 (71) 75 00 09 / 01 83
Fax: 216 (71) 75 02 54
Courriel: tunisie@ird.fr
Annual report 2011
Latin America
Bolivia
Bernard FRANCOU
• Postal address:
IRD
CP 9214 - 00095 La Paz - Bolivie
• Physical address:
Av. Hernando Siles nº 5290
Esq. Calle 7, Obrajes - La Paz
Tél.: (591 2) 278 29 69 / 42
Fax: (591 2) 278 29 44
Courriel: bolivie@ird.fr
www.bo.ird.fr
Brazil
Region of expertise: Paraguay
Jean-Loup GUYOT
• Postal address:
IRD - CP 7091 - Lago Sul
71645-970 - Brasilia - DF - Brésil
• Physical address:
SHIS - QI 16 - Conj. 03 - Casa 06
Lago Sul - 71640-230 - Brasilia - DF
Tél.: (55 61) 32 48 53 23
Fax: (55 61) 32 48 53 78
Courriel: bresil@ird.fr
www.brasil.ird.fr
Chile
Regions of expertise:
Argentina - Uruguay
Jean-François MARINI
• Postal address:
IRD
Casilla 53 390
Correo Central Santiago 1
Chili
• Physical address:
Roman Diaz 264, Providencia
Santiago
Tél.: (56 2) 236 34 64
Fax: (56 2) 236 34 63
Courriel: chili@ird.fr
www.chile.ird.fr
Ecuador
Jean-Yves COLLOT
IRD
Whymper 442 y Coruña
Apartado 17 12 857
Quito - équateur
Tél.: (593 2) 250 39 44
Fax: (593 2) 250 40 20
Courriel: equateur@ird.fr
www.equateur.ird.fr
Mexico
Regions of expertise:
Cuba - Central American states
Renaud FICHEZ
IRD
Calle Anatole France # 17
Col. Chapultepec Polanco
C.P. 11560
México D.F.
Mexique
Tél. et Fax: (52 55) 52 80 76 88
Courriel: mexique@ird.fr
www.mx.ird.fr
Peru
Regions of expertise:
Colombia - Venezuela
Gérard HÉRAIL
• Postal address:
IRD
Casilla 18 - 1209
Lima 18 - Pérou
• Physical address:
Calle Teruel n° 357
Miraflores
Lima 18
Tél.: (51 1) 441 32 23
Fax: (51 1) 441 32 23 22
Courriel: perou@ird.fr
www.peru.ird.fr
Asia
Indian ocean
European Union
Indonesia
Region of expertise:
East Timor
Jean-Paul TOUTAIN
IRD
Wisma Anugraha
Jalan Taman Kemang 32 B
Jakarta 12730
Indonésie
Tél.: (62 21) 71 79 21 14
Fax: (62 21) 71 79 21 79
Courriel: indonesie@ird.fr
www.indonesie.ird.fr
Madagascar
Regions of expertise: Comoros Seychelles - Indian Ocean island states
Sophie GOEDEFROIT
IRD près VB 22
Ambatoroka
Route d’Ambohipo - BP 434
101 Antananarivo
Madagascar
Tél.: (261 20) 22 330 98
Fax: (261 20) 22 369 82
Courriel: madagascar@ird.fr
www.ird.fr/madagascar
IRD-CLORA
Jean-Pierre Finance
8 avenue des Arts
B1210 Bruxelles
Belgique
Tél.: (32 2) 506 88 48
Fax: (32 2) 506 88 45
bruxelles@ird.fr
Laos
Regions of expertise: Cambodia
Éric BÉNÉFICE
IRD
Ban Sisangvone
BP 5992
Vientiane
République du Laos
Tél.: (856 21) 45 27 07
Fax: (856 21) 41 29 93
Courriel: laos@ird.fr
www.irdlaos.org
Thailand
Régine LEFAIT-ROBIN
IRD
French Embassy
29, Thanon Sathorn Tai
Bangkok 10120
Thaïlande
Tél.: (66 2) 677 32 50
Fax: (66 2) 627 21 94
Courriel: thailande@ird.fr
www.th.ird.fr
Vietnam
Jean-Pascal TORRÉTON
IRD
Quartier diplomatique de Van Phuc
Appartement 202, bâtiment 2G
298 Kim Ma, Ba Dinh
Hanoï - Vietnam
Tél.: (84 4) 37 34 66 56
Fax: (84 4) 37 34 67 14
Courriel: vietnam@ird.fr
www.vietnam.ird.fr
Regional
coordinators
Mediterranean region:
Saïd JABBOURI
Egypt representative
said.jabbouri@ird.fr
West and Central Africa:
Georges DE NONI
Senegal representative
georges.denoni@ird.fr
East and southern Africa
and Indian Ocean:
Jean ALBERGEL
Kenya representative
jean.albergel@ird.fr
South and Central America,
Caribbean region:
Gérard HÉRAIL
Peru representative
gerard.herail@ird.fr
Asia:
Régine LEFAIT-ROBIN
Thailand representative
regine.lefait-robin@ird.fr
Pacific:
Gilles FÉDIÈRE
New Caledonia representative
gilles.fediere@ird.fr
65
66
Annual report 2011
Annual report 2011
Document produced
by the information,
communication and
scientific culture for
the South department
dic@ird.fr
©IRD juin 2012
ISBN 978-2-7099-1735-3
Coordinator: Marie-Noëlle Favier
Editor: Violaine Arnaud
Graphic design and layout: One All Agency
Subeditor: Yolande Cavallazzi
English translation: Technicis
Picture editor: Base Indigo - Daina Rechner
Computer graphics: Laurent Corsini
Maps: Catherine Valton
Printer: Imprimerie Audry, Marseille
Distributor: Unité de diffusion, Bondy; Philippe
Chanard, Marseille
Contributors:
Martine Ahrweiller, Jean Albergel, Robert Arfi,
René Bally, Nicolas Barts, Marie Baudry de Vaux,
éric Bénéfice, Gilles Bernard, Mohammed Bettahar,
Gilles Bezançon, Bruno Bordage, Alain Borgel,
Michel Bouvet, Diane Briard, Benjamin Buclet,
Franck Carenzi, Manuel Carrard, Dominique Cavet,
Thomas Changeux, Jean-Yves Collot, Laurence
Corvellec, élise Coste, Gaëlle Courcoux, Ariel Crozon,
Marcia De Andrade Mathieu, Georges De Noni,
Cristelle Duos, Yves Duval, Jean-Pierre Ezin,
Sandrine Fagnoni, Gilles Fédière, Renaud Fichez,
Jean-Marie Fotsing, Bernard Francou, Xavier Garde,
Emmanuel Gaston, Olivier Gibert, Gregory Giraud,
Sophie Goedefroit , Jean Loup Guyot, Oriane Hebert,
Gérard Hérail, Said Jabbouri, Laure Kpenou,
Philippe Lacombe, Jean-Marc Leblanc, Benoît Lootvoet,
Régine Lefait-Robin, Jean-François Marini,
Zoraïda Martinez, Magali Maurange, Yann Moreau,
Thomas Mourier, Rose Marie Ojeda,
Patrick Quénéhervé, Stéphane Raud,
Noly Razanajaonarijery, Corinne Revaud,
Sylvain Robert, Valérie Rotival,
Corinne Rouland-Lefèvre, Marie-Lise Sabrié,
Yves Savidan, Bruno Sicard, Brigitte Surugue,
Patrick Thonneau, Anne-Marie Tièges,
Hervé Tissot Dupont, Jean-Pascal Torréton,
Jean-Paul Toutain, Amélie Travers, Laurent Vidal,
Jean-Yves Villard, Mina Vilayleck.
For the science examples:
Agali Alhassane, Jalila el Ati, Robert Arfi,
Lenka Baratoux, Thomas Couvreur, Elisabeth Cunin,
Philippe Cury, Francis Delpeuch,
Henri-Claude Enoumba, Luc Ferry, Agnès Gartner,
Jean-Pierre Guengant, Mohammed Haddar,
Odile Hoffmann, Nahayeilli Juarez Huet, Marc Jessell,
Gonzague Jourdain, éric Leroy, Christophe Maes,
Hamidou Issaka Maga, Oleg Mediannikov,
Jean-Yves Moisseron, Papa Ndaw,
Jean-Emmanuel Paturel, Julio Quijano,
Philippe Roudier, Lynn Shannon, Wasna Sirirungsi,
Cheikh Sokhna, Bonaventure Sonké, Yunne-Jai Shin,
Benjamin Sultan, Assine Tshibubudze,
Hervé Tissot Dupont, Pierre Traissac, Laurent Vidal.
67
Photo credits – Annual report 2011
©IRD-Pascale Chabanet, ©Jacques Clavier, ©IRD-Thierry Ruf, ©IRD-Dominique Masse, ©IRD-Luc Ferry,
©IRD-Olivier Dangles, ©IRD-Geneviève Michon (p.3), ©IRD-Marie-Noëlle Favier (p.5), ©Yacouba Mahamane,
©IRD-Eric Folcher, ©IRD-Valérie Rotival, ©IRD-Michel Sow, ©B. Eymann-Académie des sciences, ©IRDChristian Leduc (p.6), ©IRD-Pascale de Robert (p.8), ©IRD-Justine Montmarché, ©IRD-Guillaume Villegier (p.9),
©IRD-Thierry Ruf, ©ESA, ©IRD-Luc Ferry (p.12), ©Technopole de la Réunion-Corine Tellier, ©IRD-Geneviève
Michon, ©IRD-Alain Borgel (p.13), ©IRD-Alain Laraque, ©IRD-Serge Pinel, ©IRD-François Molle (p.14),
©IRD-Eric Folcher, ©IRD-Jean-Michel Boré, ©IRD-Eric Folcher (p.15), ©IRD-Jean-Michel Boré, ©IRD-Jean-Louis
Duprey, ©IRD-Laurent Auclair, ©IRD-Philippe Cecchi, ©IRD-Stéphanie Carrière, ©IRD-Olivier Evrard (p.16-17),
©IRD-Bernard Francou (p.20), © World Bank-Tran Thi Hoa (p.21), ©IRD-Régis Hocdé, ©IRD-Eric Folcher (p.22),
©Ron Le Valley, ©IRD-Vincent Turmine (p.24), ©IRD-Laure Emperaire, ©IRD-Marie-Noëlle Favier (p.25),
© World Ocean Atlas, ©IRD-Martine Rodier (p.26), ©IRD-Luc Ferry (p.27), ©IRD-Mark Jessel, © Photostp.free.fr
(p.28), ©IRD-Marie-Noëlle Favier, ©AGRHYMET-Agali Alhassane (p.29), ©IRD-Pierre Traissac (p.31),
©IRD-Pierre Becquart, ©IRD-Eric Leroy (p.32), ©IRD-Jourdain Gonzague, ©OXFAM-Chalermsak Kittitrakul
(p.33), ©IRD-Claude Dejoux, ©IRD-Marie-Noëlle Favier (p.35), © Wikipedia, ©IRD-Roger Calvez (p.36),
©IRD-Jean-Jacques Lemasson, ©IRD-Arnaud Luce (p.37), © Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, ©IRD-Michel
Bouvet (p.41), ©IRD-Guillaume Villegier, ©IRD-Georges Serpantié (p.42), ©IRD-Sylvie Galle, © IRD-Laure
Emperaire (p.43), ©IRD-Thierry Baldet (p.44), ©IRD-Manuelle Rival, ©IRD-Marianne Donnat (p.45), ©IRDElodie Petitdidier (p46), ©IRD-Marie-Noëlle Favier, ©Virbac, ©IRD-Annick Aing (p.47), ©IRD-DR, ©IRD-JeanMichel Boré, ©IRD-Annick Aing, ©IRD-Cristelle Duos (p.49), ©IRD-Annick Aing, (p.49), ©Sedif, ©IRD-Aguilera,
Felipe (p.56), ©IRD-Annick Aing, ©ESA, ©IRD-Rita Saudégbée, ©Eric Franceschi, ©IRD-Philippe Chanard (p.61),
Photos dans illustrations : ©Shutterstock
IRD
44 boulevard de Dunkerque
CS90009
13572 Marseille cedex 02
Tél. : +33(0)4 91 99 92 00
Fax : +33(0)4 91 99 92 22
www.ird.fr
www.aird.fr
Join us on: