Patrick Caron

Patrick Caron is a veterinary doctor, PhD in development geography. He is a specialist of farming systems and territorial dynamics, with a special focus on livestock farming in Brazil, Southern Africa and the Near East.

In addition to his role as Director of the Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions (MAK’IT), P.Caron is the International Director of the Montpellier University of Excellence (MUSE) Initiative since September 2017 and Vice-President for International Affairs of the University of Montpellier since January 2019. He joined the French International Cooperation Center in Agronomic Research for Development (CIRAD) in 1988 where he was Director-General for Research and Strategy from 2010 to 2016. He is now attached to the JRU ART-Dev.

P. Caron is a member of many scientific and institutional bodies. In May 2019, he has been appointed chair of Agropolis International and is a member of the French National Council for Development and International Solidarity. He led the organization of several international conferences that took place in Montpellier, France: the 3rd Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture in March 2015, the International Conference on Agrichains and Sustainable Development in December 2016 and the International Conference on Living Territories in January 2018. He is co-chairing the 4th Conference on Global Food Security to be held in Montpellier, France, in June 2020.

He has been appointed as the Chair of the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in November 2015, a position that he occupied until October 2019.

He is the author of about 200 publications in international journals, books and conference proceedings