Research by and for farmers as a tool for development

On Thursday, February 26, at the International Agricultural Salon, a discussion forum organized jointly by Fert, Arvalis, and Intercéréales highlighted a topic that is central to the future of the agricultural sector: research by and for farmers as a tool for development.

During two hours of discussion, the speakers shared their experiences to answer a key question: what factors enable agricultural research to be useful, usable, and used?

The discussion forum featured contributions from:
(from left to right in the photo)

Amandine SCHLUR, Fert project manager, discussion forum moderator
Benoit PIETREMENT, president of Intercéréales
Santatra RAVELOMANANTSOA, researcher at Fofifa (Madagascar) and winner of the 2026 FARM Foundation Prize
Jean-François ISAMBERT, President of Fert and Club Demeter
Delphine BOUTTET, Regional Engineer for Arvalis in the Ile de France region
Katja VUORI, Director of AgriCord
Philippe HEUSELE, Treasurer of Arvalis and Secretary General of AGPB
Bernard QUERE, Director of FN3PT

Applied research: starting from a real need

The first key message of the morning: applied research is not “abstract” research. It responds to an identified need expressed by the farmers themselves.

Whether it be the work carried out in France by Arvalis, the experiments conducted in Kenya with the Cereal Growers Association, or the research carried out in Madagascar by Fofifa and Ceffel, all the evidence points to the same conclusion: innovation is only valuable if it brings about tangible improvements in the technical, economic, and social conditions of farms. To achieve this, research must incorporate the economic dimension: knowledge that can be applied by farmers to at least maintain and, if possible, improve their incomes.

In Kenya, work on soil fertility begins with a precise diagnosis of the realities faced by farmers, this involves, for example, measuring pH to determine acidity.

In Madagascar, the Raitra innovation platform illustrates a multi-stakeholder approach in which farmers participate in identifying phytosanitary constraints, formulating research questions, and conducting field experiments.

The research is rooted in reality and enriched by farmers’ knowledge; it is built on exchange.

Farmers at the heart of the process

Second strong conviction: farmers must be involved before, during, and after research.

Farmers have a role to play in governance. In France, the Arvalis Technical Institute is run by Regional Steering Committees (CROP) that enable farmers to guide research priorities. They are not mere beneficiaries, they are decision-makers.

In both the South and the North, the dissemination and appropriation of knowledge also requires the involvement of farmers and their organizations: field demonstrations, the role of leaders, support from technicians to share knowledge rather than keep it to themselves.

Simple messages, concrete demonstrations, and collective involvement are the keys to effective dissemination and must be encouraged by leaders and lead farmers.

Cooperating to scale up

Another key lesson from this meeting was that the complementary nature of the various players is a strength, provided they share a common vision: serving farmers.

Partnerships between farmer organizations, technical institutes, and research organizations such as INRAE and CIRAD illustrate this dynamic.

North-South and South-South exchanges foster mutual knowledge. Experiments conducted in different contexts become “open-air laboratories” that benefit everyone.

This cooperation also makes it possible to link fundamental research and applied research, so that scientific advances truly respond to the challenges facing the food sector and food security.

Useful, usable, used: a collective requirement

In conclusion, the testimonies from France, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Madagascar illustrated a strong conviction: when farmers participate in defining, testing, and disseminating innovations, research becomes:

Useful: research must respond to a real need.
Usable: it must be technically and economically applicable under farm conditions.
Used: it must be adopted by farmers and their organizations.

Beyond the exchanges, this meeting and debate highlighted an essential reality: research, and everything it entails, is based above all on solid human relationships. However, any lasting relationship is built on trust. Trust between stakeholders is not a secondary asset, it is the very condition for collective success.

At the International Agricultural Salon, this message resonated particularly strongly because the future of agriculture is being played out both in laboratories and in fields, and above all in the dialogue between the two.

Applied research: starting from a real need

Farmers at the heart of the process

Cooperating to scale up

Useful, usable, used: a collective requirement

Excerpts from the discussion at the 2026 International Agricultural Salon

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