Dominique Dufour
CIRAD Qualisud Researcher
France
PhD, Researcher in Food Science & Food Engineering, CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, Montpellier, France). For over 30 years he has specialized in adding value to cassava, sweet potato, yam, cocoyam, taro, plantain, and minor RTB crops in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. He has studied how consumer preferences affect varietal adoption by farmers and how consumer or end user expectations inform the research process; for example, defining quality requirements for processed RTB products regarding shelf life, texture, nutritional/antinutritional values, and more. Currently RTBfoods project leader (breeding RTB products for end user preferences), co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dominique’s research also focuses on equipment for eco-friendly industrial processes using life cycle analysis methodology (especially water and energy use) to bring new products to market with minimum environmental costs. Actually RTB Focal Point at CIRAD, based in Montpellier, France, Dominique holds a PhD in Bio-industry, “Enzymatic Engineering, Bioconversion & Microbiology”, from the University of Technology of Compiègne, France. Email: dominique.dufour(at)cirad.fr