Biography

Frédéric Baudron is a Senior Scientist working for the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (Cirad), based in Montpellier, France. Prior to this, he was a Principal Scientist working for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) based first in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (from 2011 to 2016) and later in Harare, Zimbabwe (from 2016 to 2023).

Trained as a tropical agronomist in France, he specialized as a livestock scientist and started his career with a focus on the interface between people (mainly farmers) and wildlife in Zimbabwe (and neighboring countries). He then carried his PhD on plant production systems at the University of Wageningen (The Netherlands).

He has been involved in a number of research projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. He has 22 years of experience developing solutions with and for smallholders in East and Southern Africa.

Interests
  • Farming system research
  • Sustainable intensification
  • Agriculture-biodiversity nexus
  • Appropriate mechanization
  • Participatory innovation development
  • Agronomy-to-scale
  • Roots and tubers
Education
  • PhD in Production Ecology and Resource Conservation, 2011

    Wageningen University, The Netherlands

  • Diploma of Specialized Agronomy (Master of Science) in Livestock Science, 2001

    AgroParisTech, France

  • Diploma of General Agronomy, 2000

    SupAgro Montpellier, France

Skills

Farming System Research

90%

Crop Science

70%

Animal Science

60%

Social Science

30%

Ecology

30%

Statistics

70%

R

70%

Project Management

80%

Photography

50%

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Systems Agronomist
Sep 2023 – Present Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 
Systems Agronomist
Sep 2016 – Jul 2023 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 
Systems Agronomist
May 2011 – Aug 2016 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
 
 
 
 
 
PhD Researcher
Aug 2010 – Apr 2011 Montpellier, France / Wageningen, The Netherlands
 
 
 
 
 
Private consultant
Feb 2010 – Jul 2010 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 
PhD Researcher
Feb 2007 – Jan 2010 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 
Component Leader for Agriculture
Oct 2005 – Sep 2006 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 
Agronomist
Feb 2005 – Jul 2005 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 
Thematic Leader for Agriculture
Jan 2004 – Dec 2004 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 
Agronomist
Nov 2001 – Oct 2003 Harare, Zimbabwe

Projects

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ACIAR HAFIZ

ACIAR HAFIZ

The project ‘Harnessing Appropriate-scale Farm mechanization In Zimbabwe’ (HAFIZ) aims to support investments by the Government and by the private sector in appropriate-scale farm mechanization in Zimbabwe, particularly around mechanized Pfumvudza, and transfer learnings to South Africa.

OneCGIAR Agroecology Initiative

OneCGIAR Agroecology Initiative

Agroecology is an approach to food production that harnesses nature’s goods and services whilst minimizing adverse environmental impacts, and improves farmer-consumer connectivity, knowledge co-creation and inclusive relationships among food system actors.

BMGF GAIA

BMGF GAIA

With an estimated 15% of all agricultural soils in Africa being affected, soil acidity is a major constraint to (current and future) crop production on the continent. As a response, several governments in East Africa - including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda - have initiated strategic plans toward substantial public investments for the rehabilitation of acid soils.

BBSRC Double Burden

BBSRC Double Burden

The objectives of the project ‘Addressing malnutrition with biofortified maize in Zimbabwe; from crop management to policy and consumers’ are 1) to evaluate the new pro-vitamin A (PVA) lines in Zimbabwe under different agronomic practices to gain knowledge on the combination of bio + agronomic fortification, 2) to determine the actual nutrient content of the new PVA lines in farmers' fields with different fertility status, and 3) to predict the dietary mineral supply at regional level with and without bio + agronomic fortification.

EU LIPS

EU LIPS

The objective of the ‘LIvestock Production System’ (LIPS) project is to improve productivity and climate relevance of livestock-based production systems in Zimbabwe’s agro-ecological regions IV and V through increased adoption of climate relevant innovations in livestock-based production systems, and increased capacity to implement surveillance and control of productivity diseases.

EU SIFAZ

EU SIFAZ

The ‘Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Farming Systems’ (SIFAZ) project aims at sustainably intensifying current smallholder farming systems affected by soil degradation, fertility decline and climate change with improved technologies and scaling approaches to increase productivity, income and facilitate commercial orientation of smallholder farmers while maintaining environmental resilience of the natural resource base for sustainable production in the targeted production systems.

USAID FAW

USAID FAW

The goal of the project ‘Validating Agro-ecological Control Options for Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) in Zimbabwe’ is to reduce the negative impact of fall armyworm on food security and livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe, by giving them more control options, based on the principles of agro-ecological management.

ZRBF PROGRESS

ZRBF PROGRESS

The ‘Programme on Growth & Resilience’ (PROGRESS) was implemented from 2017 to 2020 in Eastern Zimbabwe. It used a multi-tiered approach to address key causes of rural household vulnerability, improving the absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities of at least 20,000 households in Nyanga and Beitbridge Districts.

IFAD SWPSI

IFAD SWPSI

The objective of the ‘Enhancing Smallholder Wheat Productivity through Sustainable Intensification of Wheat-based Farming Systems in Rwanda and Zambia’ (SWPSI) project is to establish the potential of smallholder wheat production to increase food security and reduce wheat import bills in Rwanda and Zambia, and to draw lessons to inform wheat sector development for scaling-up of initiatives to increase wheat farm productivity.

DFID USAID New Agrarian Change

DFID USAID New Agrarian Change

The aim of the ‘The New Agrarian Change’ project, implemented from 2014 to 2016, was to use an integrated landscape approach to explore the livelihood and food security implications of land-use change and agrarian change processes in multi-functional landscapes, focusing on the experiences of six landscapes that exhibit various combinations of agricultural modification, productivity, changing forest cover or forest use, and integration with global commodity markets.

ACIAR FACASI

ACIAR FACASI

The aim of the ‘Farm Mechanisation and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification’ (FACASI) project, implemented from 2013 to 2017 in Kenya and in Tanzania, and from 2014 to 2019 in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, was to identify appropriate small-scale machines (in particular two-wheel tractors and their ancillary equipment) to improve farming practices (in particular crop establishment through direct seeding), and the commercial mechanisms needed to deliver these to smallholder farmers.

ACIAR TREES4FOOD

ACIAR TREES4FOOD

The aim of the ‘Improving Sustainable Productivity in Farming Systems and Enhanced Livelihoods through Adoption of Evergreen Agriculture in Eastern Africa’ (Trees4Food) project, implemented from 2012 to 2017, was to enhance food security for resource-poor rural people in Eastern Africa through research that underpins national programmes to scale up the use of trees within farming systems in Ethiopia and Rwanda and then scale out successes to relevant agro-ecological zones in Uganda and Burundi.

IFAD CROP-LIVESTOCK

IFAD CROP-LIVESTOCK

The aim of the project ‘Enhancing total farm productivity in smallholder conservation agriculture based systems in eastern Africa.’ (FACASI) project, implemented from 2010 to 2014 in Ethiopia and Kenya, was to develop sustainable systems and reduce the competition for crop residues between livestock and soil quality.

Recent Publications

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(2023). Genetic Variation of Zinc and Iron Concentration in Normal, Provitamin A and Quality Protein Maize under Stress and Non-Stress Conditions. Plants.

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(2022). Near- to long-term measures to stabilize global wheat supplies and food security. Nature Food.

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(2022). Indifferent to difference? Understanding the unequal impacts of farming technologies among smallholders. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development.

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(2022). Forest proximity positively affects natural enemy mediated control of fall armyworm in Southern Africa. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change.

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(2022). Diversity and diversification. Ecosystem services derived from underutilized crops and their co-benefits for sustainable agricultural landscapes and resilient food systems in Africa. Frontiers in Agronomy.

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