Global agroforestry research centre bringing African farming systems expertise, soil science, and sustainable intensification to EU research consortia.
ICRAF (World Agroforestry Centre) is a global research institution headquartered in Nairobi that develops science-based solutions for integrating trees into farming landscapes across Africa and beyond. Their work spans sustainable farming systems, soil health assessment, crop diversification with traditional varieties, and land recovery strategies. In H2020 projects, they contribute deep field-level expertise from East and West Africa, bridging African agricultural realities with European research frameworks. They focus on making smallholder farming more productive and resilient through agroforestry, improved pest management, and evidence-based soil information systems.
Central theme across all three projects — SALSA (small farms and food security), EWA-BELT (sustainable intensification indicators), and Soils4Africa (sustainable intensification indicators).
Soils4Africa builds a continent-wide soil information system aligned with GloSIS, LUCAS, and Copernicus frameworks.
SALSA examines small farms and food businesses for food security; EWA-BELT links East and West African farming experience.
EWA-BELT explicitly addresses traditional crops, land recovery, and value chains for underutilized species.
EWA-BELT includes innovative integrated pest and disease management as a key research component.
ICRAF's earliest H2020 involvement (SALSA, 2016) focused broadly on small-farm food security and food business viability. By 2020, their focus shifted decisively toward soil science infrastructure (Soils4Africa) and cross-regional farming systems research (EWA-BELT), reflecting a move from studying food systems to building data platforms and transferring agricultural knowledge between African regions. The recent keyword profile — heavy on soil degradation, open databases, Copernicus, INSPIRE, and GloSIS — signals a clear pivot toward digital soil information and interoperable data standards.
ICRAF is moving toward geospatial soil data infrastructure and Africa-wide standardized monitoring, making them a strong partner for earth observation, digital agriculture, and land degradation projects.
ICRAF operates exclusively as a participant rather than coordinator in H2020, contributing African field expertise and research networks to European-led consortia. With 51 unique partners across 24 countries from just 3 projects, they work in large, diverse consortia — averaging 17+ partners per project. This suggests they are valued for bringing non-European ground truth and regional access that few other partners can provide.
Across only 3 projects, ICRAF has connected with 51 partners in 24 countries, reflecting their role as a bridge between African agricultural research and European science networks. Their geographic footprint spans far beyond Kenya, linking East and West Africa with European institutions.
ICRAF is one of the few CGIAR centres active in H2020, bringing decades of tropical agroforestry research and direct field presence across sub-Saharan Africa. For any consortium needing credible African agricultural research partners with established farmer networks and local infrastructure, ICRAF is a natural choice. Their combination of soil science, farming systems knowledge, and data standardization expertise makes them uniquely positioned for EU-Africa food security and land restoration initiatives.
