Robert B. Zougmoré

Robert Zougmoré (Burkina Faso citizen) is an agronomist and soil scientist with PhD in Production Ecology & Resources Conservation, Wageningen University. His expertise includes Land degradation & development, Climate change, Integrated Water & Nutrient Management, Agroecology, Conservation Agriculture, Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) policies & institutions.
Robert works currently as Principal Scientist with the Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT, Team Leader-West & Central Africa Region for Climate Action Lever, and Cluster Leader-West Africa for AICCRA (Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa). His role is to develop strategic partnerships with regional organisations to capacitate them with relevant scientific tools & knowledge to undertaking large-scale spill over effects and south-south learning across their networks.
From 2010-2021, he was Africa Program leader of CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture & Food Security (CCAFS) at ICRISAT, defining and overseeing strategic directions for CCAFS research in the region, coordinating actions that lead to coherent implementation of regional activities from the participating CGIAR Centres and regional/national partners. His major tasks were also to communicate regional research outputs & strategy through innovative ways to project a highly professional image of CCAFS and CGIAR. Under his leadership, CCAFS action research was conducted at all levels, from the climate-smart villages (CSV) to district & national level science-policy platforms, and to regional CSA alliances, to generate science that inform top-down & bottom-up decision-making that can transform agriculture & food systems. By doing so, Robert achieved outstanding development outcomes such as: large dissemination of climate information services to 7.4 million people in Senegal; mainstreaming of CSV approach to scale-up CSA technologies & practices within 60 communes in Niger; use of CCAFS science to inform development of major national/regional agricultural policies (national CSA action plan of Ghana, rural sector plan of Burkina Faso, CSA implementation framework and CSA alliance of ECOWAS).
Robert has published widely with over 80 papers and book chapters which can be found on Google Scholar. Robert was awarded Academic Palms medal of Burkina Faso and was recipient of the 2019 International Derek Tribe Award. He occasionally teaches at various universities.