Biography

Frederic Baudron is a Principal Scientist working for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) based in Harare, Zimbabwe. Trained as a tropical agronomist in France, he specialized as a livestock scientist and started his carreer working for various international organizations (Cirad, WWF, etc) targeting 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 is involved in a number of research projects in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. He has over 18 years of experience developing solutions with and for smallholders in East and Southern Africa.

Interests

  • Farming system research
  • Sustainable intensification
  • Impact of agriculture on biodiversity
  • Appropriate mechanization
  • Participatory innovation development

Education

  • PhD in Production Ecology and Resource Conservation, 2011

    Wageningen University, The Netherlands

  • Diploma of Specialized Agronomy (Master of Science) in Animal 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

CIMMYT

Sep 2016 – Present Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 

Systems Agronomist

CIMMYT

May 2011 – Aug 2016 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
 
 
 
 
 

Research Fellow

Cirad/Wageningen UR

Aug 2010 – Apr 2011 Montpellier, France / Wageningen, The Netherlands
 
 
 
 
 

Private Consultant

Feb 2010 – Jul 2010 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 

Research Fellow

Cirad

Feb 2007 – Jan 2010 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 

Component Leader for Agriculture

Bio-Hub

Oct 2005 – Sep 2006 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 

Agronomist

Fondation Internationale pour la Sauvegarde de la Faune

Jul 2005 – Feb 2005 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 

Thematic Leader for Agriculture

World Wide Fund for Nature

Jan 2004 – Dec 2004 Harare, Zimbabwe
 
 
 
 
 

Agronomist

Cirad

Nov 2001 – Oct 2003 Harare, Zimbabwe

Projects

*

EU LIPS

The objective of the “LIvestock Production System” (LIPS) project is to improve productivity and climate relevance of livsestock-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

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

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

The “Programme on Growth & Resilience” (PROGRESS) uses 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

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

The aim of the “The New Agrarian Change” project, implemented from 2014 to 2016, 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

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

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.

Publications

Quickly discover relevant content by filtering publications.

Modelling climate change impacts on maize yields under low nitrogen input conditions in sub-Saharan Africa

Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) currently grow rainfed maize with limited inputs including fertilizer. Climate change …

Landscape diversity and diet diversity. A roadmap for transdisciplinary research.

Malnutrition linked to poor quality diets affects at least 2 billion people. Forests, as well as agricultural systems linked to trees, …

Contact