The Agricultural and Forestry Research Institute (IRAF) is Gabon’s principal agricultural R&D agency. It is placed under the National Scientific and Technological Research Center (CENAREST), which in turn falls under the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. IRAF conducts crop, livestock, forestry, fisheries, and socio-economic research.

Four agencies conduct agricultural R&D in Gabon, the largest of which by far is The Agricultural and Forestry Research Institute (IRAF), accounting for 70 percent of the country’s agricultural researchers.

IRAF is structured under four departments focusing on general agriculture, animal production science, plant technology, and the rural economy. Each department operates several research units and laboratories, and in addition to its headquarters in Libreville IRAF also operates a research station in Ndouaniang. Although IRAF’s official mandate encompasses crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries, and socioeconomic research, funding constraints have left many priority research areas entirely unstaffed and unfunded. The only other government agency that conducts (limited) crop research in Gabon is the Crop Material Introduction, Adaptation, and Multiplication Center (CIAM). INSAB is the country’s only higher education agency. It falls under the University of Science and Technology of Masuku, and its research activities mostly focus on crops and postharvest issues. The Gabonese Development Support Institute (IGAD) a nonprofit organization, researches issues related to bananas and maize.