Research

PERSPECTIVE’s avenues of research focus on major international issues (rural development, educational quality, global warming, renewable energy, access to health, public finance, etc.) and on methods and knowledge useful for the advancement of economic and social development and sustainable growth. These research activities are bolstered by partnerships with universities and recognised public research centres.

Examples of research programmes:
Agriculture
Initially developed and tested by major French laboratories including the INRA, the Family Farm Advisory Service (CEF) model has proven to be an effective tool in developing grassroots organisations in Africa’s agricultural sector. The Institute and SOFRECO’s Agriculture Department have promoted an operational approach for the implementation of CEF in Burkina Faso and Benin. Inspired by the French initiative for a “global approach to farming”, significant work has been carried out on the experimentation, development and testing of approaches, and is helping to make these systems sustainable with highly encouraging results.
Environment
Two main research areas are currently being developed through collaboration between the Institute and the SOFRECO Group’s Environment Department:

- In partnership with the Centre for the Study of Black Africa (CEAN) of the Bordeaux Institute of Political Studies, the aptness of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management System (GIL) as a new way of managing coastal zones is being studied. This approach postulates that environmental problems generally boil down to a lack of coordination between actors, and that a participatory approach is necessary to remedy this.
- A partnership with the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and the Environmental and Hydrology Transfers Study Laboratory (LTHE) created to study the Niger river basin, is endeavouring to provide a better understanding of West Africa’s climate by developing hydro-climatic indicators to quantify the reactions of Sahelian drainage basins to climatic fluctuations.
Public finance
Our certified experts have carried out significant research work on the behalf of a major development bank, on the design (content) and implementation (process) of public finance reforms in African States. By successively analysing previous attempts at reforms, developing a conceptual model for the design and implementation of reforms, and then comparing this model to the previous attempts, the team contributed to advancing knowledge in a crucial sector for public expenditure control, and thereby to progress in state intervention for growth and sustainable development.

For more information on these research areas, please contact the Institute.
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