The rural sector remains the sector dominating of the economy camerounaise, so much by its potential as regards reduction of poverty.

According to projections', a little more half of the total population of the country lives in rural zone and deals with the agricultural, pastorales or forest activities. The analyses of profiles poverty show that in Cameroun it is initially a rural phenomenon.

Within the framework of the diversification of the economy, studies showed that the economy camerounaise is based on agriculture to maintain a rate of growth and to contribute to the effort of reduction of poverty in the rural zones.

To face major challenges of the rural sector that are the fight against the poverty and the food safety of the populations, integration on the markets, durability of the performances, the ministries in load of this sector stopped an integrated strategy of development. This strategy intends to set up the conditions of a sustained high growth, and equitable in the rural sector. This strategy will be supported by a whole of interventions which will relate inter alia to the development of the livestock and vegetable productions, to ensure the food safety and to improve the incomes of the producers. Within the framework of the implementation this strategies of development of the sector rural, seeks it agricultural constitutes a very significant component of the program recherche/vulgarisation. The objective of this component aims at developing a capacity of answer adapted to the needs for the producers, by adequate technical offers (social, environmental, economic etc).

With this intention, research must undertake the following actions:

• To support the development of the integrated systems of production;
• To develop a capacity of response reasoned to the needs relating to the varietal genetic improvement, the problems of animal health and protection of cultures;
• To improve the conditions of setting in market of the products by offer of suitable answers relating to storage, the transformation and the conservation of the products;
• To propose systems of durable management of the rural areas (agro - sylvo - pastoral) the IRAD, as a center of reference as regards agricultural research, is the tool privilege of development of these awaited innovations. At the end of the decree N° 2002/230 of September 6, 2002, the RAD is charged to ensure the control of the activities of research aiming at the promotion of the agricultural development in the fields of the productions vegetable, animal, halieutics, forest and of the environment, as well as food and agro-industrial technologies. It is thus charged with:
• To implement scientific programming around the priority axes for the development of the country, starting from the reality needs for the users, as well on the national level as in each agro-ecological zone;
• To ensure the durable management of the basic resources and the conservation of the environment;
• To support valorization, and to place at the disposal of the users of the technological data retrieval meeting their needs;
• To seek all information having an impact on the agricultural development.