Alain Vidal is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at CGIAR. Alain began his professional tenure in Morocco in 1986 – which sparked a decade long research career with the French Environment Research Institute (Cemagref – now known as Irstea). He also worked with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on innovations in scientific research uptake and technology exchange, before returning to Cemagref from 2003 to 2009 as its Director of European and International Affairs.
Alain Vidal’s interest in global food, environment and poverty issues spans over the entirety of his career. In 2009, he was appointed the Director of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, a ten-year program that explored new types of partnerships and institutional capacities that could help transform research to impact. Since October 2012, he has also held an advisory role on the management committee of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems.
Alain later became the CGIAR Consortium’s Senior Advisor on Capacity Development and Partnerships, seconded to the CGIAR Consortium by the French Ministry of Agriculture, Agribusiness and Forestry. In November of 2014, he was named Strategy Director ad interim, under which capacity development and partnerships reside along with communications.
He has authored and co-authored more than forty refereed papers, and edited 5 books. Alain received his PhD in water science from the University of Montpellier in 1989.
With the population set to soar, there is a huge opportunity to intervene and bring down greenhouse gas emissions whilst ensuring food and nutrition security.
