IFDC mourns the loss of our Board Member, Dr. Mohamed Badraoui. He died on April 5, 2019. Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends in Morocco and worldwide.
Dr. Badraoui became a member of the IFDC board of directors in 2012 and served on the board’s Executive, Program, and Africa committees. He was instrumental in furthering IFDC’s work in Morocco and other African nations.
Badraoui was director general of Morocco’s National Agronomic Research Institute (INRA), based in Rabat. He had more than 30 years of experience in agricultural research, specializing in soil science and natural resource management. His work focused on soil fertility management and crop fertilization and fertigation; soil mapping for land management; and soil salinity management under irrigated systems for intensive crop production. He also evaluated the sustainability of cropping systems and refining agricultural development projects in arid and semiarid areas.
Prior to his position with INRA, Badraoui was the director of Combating Desertification and Nature Protection for Morocco’s High Commission for Waters, Forests and Combating Desertification from 2005 to 2008. He assisted in the implementation of government policies regarding resource conservation and sustainable rural development.
For more than two decades (1981-2005), Badraoui provided training and continuing education for professionals in science and technology as professor of soil sciences at the Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (IAV) Hassan II in Rabat. The institution conducts innovative research in agriculture, rural development, and natural resource management.
He also served as the secretary general of the Morocco National Council on the Environment and as a member of the High National Council on Water and Climate.
A Moroccan citizen, Badraoui held a bachelor’s degree in general agronomy and a master’s degree in soil science from IAV Hassan II. He earned a Ph.D. in soil chemistry, mineralogy, and fertility from the University of Minnesota (United States).
