The Agricultural Research Institute for Development (IRAD) is a public administrative institution of scientific and technical status, with legal personality and financial autonomy. As the secular arm of the Cameroonian state in agricultural development, IRAD is supervised technically by the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation and financially by the Ministry of Finance. As such, it ensures scientific research and the promotion of agricultural development throughout the national territory, often in partnership with other state, regional and international institutions. The identification of the constraints of the sector and the programming of the activities to be carried out take into account the sectoral strategies elaborated by the different ministerial departments involved in the development of the rural sector.
Each year, IRAD obtains convincing results, such as the production and distribution of cashew seedlings to farmers, farmers’ associations and certain development companies in the East, Adamawa, North and Far North administrative regions, in order to diversify the sources of income and improve on the livelihoods of the populations, the effective transfer of innovative technologies through the supervision of various agricultural development actors, as well as the creation of intellectual property assets through multiple exchanges with international organizations of excellence (OAPI, UPOV and WIPO).
The efforts of the Cameroonian government aimed at strengthening IRAD in human resources have been remarkable these recent years, especially as regards the recruitment of new researchers, technicians and administrative staff. Strengthening their capacities will certainly help to improve their performance and diversify their activities. In the same light, the contribution of certain foreign governments as well as the support of the technical and financial partners (the African Development Bank, the World Bank, the European Union, etc.) have been considerable for the realization of missions set for IRAD.