The Malagasy researcher Santatra Ravelomanantsoa, winner of the 2026 FARM Foundation Prize
Paris, February 17, 2026 — Santatra Ravelomanantsoa, Head of the Department of Agronomic Research at the National Center for Applied Research for Rural Development (FOFIFA) in Madagascar, and a researcher in plant health and post-harvest quality, received the 2026 FARM Foundation Prize today in Paris.
She embodies a rare approach: a researcher deeply committed to working closely with producers. Her work has notably contributed to reducing bacterial vascular disease, which infested local potato crops at nearly 1001 TP3T in 2013 (a rate now down to 5 at 101 TP3T). The FARM Prize (a grant of 5,000 euros) will allow her to move forward with the establishment in Madagascar of an innovation hub dedicated to plant health and seed quality. Just one of her many projects!
A proponent of action research, working closely with the field, Santatra Ravelomanantsoa is involved in numerous projects in Madagascar, all focused on plant health. She applies her core principles: listening to and involving producers, and maintaining constant communication with development stakeholders, the scientific community, and local authorities. It was while working in the field with farmers growing wheat and potatoes in the highlands that she encountered bacterial vascular disease in 2009. The disease caused 100,130 losses in potato crops: a staple food and cash crop affecting thousands of family farms. Potatoes, which replace rice during the lean season (the period before the first harvests when previous crops may be scarce), are also highly valued by island restaurateurs… for making French fries, among other things. This led to several years of research to understand, manage, and control the contamination. Thanks to an established innovation platform, farmers can stay informed, adapt their practices, share their opinions, and also share their own trials to combat this scourge. Through this on-the-ground action, a rigorous awareness-raising strategy, phytosanitary monitoring, and agroecological technical support, the bacterium has significantly declined (5 to 10 % today). And the work carried out is generating interest in other countries facing the problem: Kenya, South Africa, and others.
Incorporating the living conditions of farmers
Today, Santatra focuses her research on several priority crops of interest to Madagascar: cereals and maize, which are under attack from the fall armyworm; ginger, attacked by fungal diseases and nematodes; apple trees; vanilla… These are all challenges for which the researcher is working with farmers to find alternatives to synthetic chemicals, «because farmers can also enrich research,» Santatra emphasizes. Asked to comment on the term «committed researcher» often used to describe her, Santatra Ravelomanantsoa sums it up as follows.
I advocate a vision of science as useful, collective, and connected to the challenges on the ground, capable of responding to the needs and living conditions of farmers, while also providing tools for public action.”.
Her work to combat bacterial vascular disease of potatoes was part of a European project funded under the European research funding scheme DeSIRA1. And the researcher maintains constant links with CIRAD and the CEFFEL/FIFATA association, a Malagasy farmers' organization providing concrete services aimed at improving the performance of family farms.
Santatra Ravelomanantsoa, as we have seen, believes in collective action. Committed to the development of her island, she is also dedicated to its future by mentoring young Malagasy researchers. Much work and energy were rewarded and highlighted on February 17th at the FARM Foundation International Conference.« The purpose of the prize you are receiving today »Catherine Migault, director of FARM, reminded us,« is to promote action research and synergies between science, the private sector and public policy, so that research contributes concretely to improving the living conditions of rural populations and to the development of sustainable food systems«…One could not better describe the daily commitment of Santatra Ravelomanantsoa.
About
Mrs. Santatra Ravelomanantsoa
Head of the agronomic research department and head of the Plant Health Laboratory at the National Centre for Applied Research in Rural Development (FOFIFA).
Teacher of phytopathology at the University of Antananarivo.
Holder of a DEA in plant physiology (University of Antananarivo), International Master in crop protection (UC Louvain la Neuve), PhD in phytopathology (University of Reunion), graduate of the African Plant Breeding Academy.
The FARM Foundation Award
Created in 2024 and awarded for the first time on January 28, 2025 in Paris during the FARM Foundation's annual international conference, the Prize rewards the scientific and societal commitment of a researcher in the field of agricultural development and food security in the countries of the South, in line with the values and missions of the FARM Foundation.
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The FARM Foundation
For 20 years, the Foundation for Agriculture and Rurality in the World (FARM), recognized as a public utility, has been working to promote sustainable agriculture in the world and in particular in the countries of the South.
Through its studies, partnerships and awareness campaigns, FARM informs public and private stakeholders about the paths to take for balanced agricultural development that addresses economic, social and environmental issues.
(1) DeSIRA is a mechanism created after the 1st One Planet Summit to finance agroecological action research in countries of the Global South. (Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture)
