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Les changements de perceptions et d'attentes des sociétés concernant la recherche agricole, et l'ampleur des défis qu'affrontent les sociétés en développement imposent des évolutions à un organisme de recherche tel que le Cirad. Les évolutions entreprises sont de natures institutionnelles, épistémologiques, axiologiques, scientifiques et opérationnelles. Elles supposent la prise en compte de la diversité des acteurs sociétaux, la double redevabilité Nord/Sud et les productions du Cirad. L'établissement pose plusieurs fondations aux évolutions : 1/ la prégnance des défis, qui posent la question d'une science capable de les relever, de générer et d'accompagner les processus d'innovation requis, 2/ le mandat de recherche finalisée, 3/ les valeurs, et trois piliers d'action : exemplarité, ouverture, engagement pour le développement durable. Ce dernier pilier est particulièrement développé car il relève du coeur de métier du Cirad, et y fait l'objet d'évolutions marquées : l'action publique, les recherches participatives, la contribution à des impacts sociétaux et leur évaluation.

To promote greater sustainability in agriculture, development of agroecology is increasingly being invoked. What are the conditions for establishing agroecological production in tropical regions? Based upon case studies in several tropical areas, we provide here some answers to this question. We review the “pillars” (i.e. principles) and the “implementation levers” (i.e., tools) for the development of agroecology. We identify three main pillars: (1) the mobilization and management of ecological processes for the sustainable production and the resilience of agroecosystems; (2) the development of interactions between technical, social, environmental, and institutional components of agroecosystems for a holistic approach to agroecology; and (3) the scaling up of agroecology that takes place with a plurality of actions and pathways at different organization levels rather than an increase in resources and a replication of standardized technical processes. To implement these three pillars, we identify 11 main bio-technical, cognitive, socio-political, and organizational levers. Bio-technical levers include those for (1) mobilizing complementarity between crop species to optimize natural resources use, (2) mobilizing functional biodiversity at the plot scale to optimize natural regulation of pests and diseases, (3) managing biodiversity at landscape and territorial scales, (4) increasing the efficiency of biogeochemical cycles, and (5) renewing targets for genetic improvement. Cognitive, socio-political, and organizational levers include those for (6) political and institutional action at the national and global level, (7) action at the local level to support producers, (8) political and organizational action at the territorial level, (9) the marketing and the development of new agri-chains, (10) the development of new methods for evaluating production systems, and (11) the recognition of the values of gender and generation within families and other organisational levels.