Cornet Currently retired, Antoine CORNET is a Researcher at the Research Institute for Development and Director Emeritus for Research at the IRD. Agricultural engineer from ENSA Montpellier (1970) and a PhD Engineer in ecology, Montpellier University 1981. His professional experience focused on: Water balance, production, dynamics and degradation of ecosystems in the drylands: Madagascar, the Sahel, Mexico, Tunisia. Former President of the French Scientific Committee on Desertification (CSFD), Former Member of the OSS Scientific Board, Director of the CARI (Centre for International Actions and Achievements), Corresponding Member of the Academy of Agriculture.

Luc Gnacadja is a political figure from Benin. He is an architect, he was Minister of the Environment and Urban Development of Benin, from 1999 to 2005. In March 2003, he was honoured with the World Bank's Green Award, a prize to the best achievements for sustainable development. From 2007 to 2013, he was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). In this capacity, he came up with the "land degradation neutrality" concept that he successfully promoted at the Rio+20 summit in June 2012 and which became target 15.3 of the SDGs. He is the Founder and Chairman of GPS-Dev (Governance & Policies for Sustainable Development), a think tank whose mission is to make governance systems more conducive to sustainable development, particularly in Africa. Since 2005, he is Special Representative of the Local Climate Adaptation Financing Facility (LoCAL).

I am currently a senior research fellow at the IRD (the French Institute of Research for Development), with a Ph.D. in Soil Science. I have been working for some 20 years outside the mainland
France. During that time, I have headed an international team with up to 75 permanent staff members (+30 Postdoc, Ph.D., and master students), with activities in West and Central Africa, South East Asia, the Indian Ocean, Latin and Central America. I have published 120 articles (85 peer review Web of Science Journals, H index 26). I have also been involved throughout this time (whether as a leader or participant) in projects designed to document the impacts of a wide diversity of food-producing practices and technologies which respect both natural resources and the climate. Moreover, I have worked closely with governments, as part of several national ministerial (France, French Ministry of Foreign affairs, French Ministry for Ecology, French Ministry of Agriculture) and multi-governmental task forces (e.g., P1000 initiative) related to my environmental expertise and in relation with the Rio Conventions.

Philippe Ankers holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Bern and a development and environment post-graduate diploma from the University of London. He started his career in 1991 as a researcher and project coordinator at the International Trypanotolerance Center in Gambia and the Republic of Guinea. Then, he worked as a veterinary practitioner in the Swiss mountains from 1997 to 2000 before joining the international NGO "Vétérinaires Sans Frontières" in 2001 as Regional Coordinator in Kenya, then Executive Director in Switzerland. In February 2008, Mr. Ankers joined FAO's Animal Production and Health Division in Rome.
In 2015, he became Senior Program Manager of the FAO's cross-cutting rural poverty reduction programme managing team. FAO Tunisia representative since 2019, where he coordinates the FAO North Africa program.

Dr. Sakhoudia THIAM is a Water and Forest Engineer, specialist in participatory forest planning and management with an environmental science PhD (climate change and carbon sequestration). One of the serveral positions Dr. THIAM held in sector departments in Senegal is the Permanent Secretary of the Higher Council of the Environment and Natural Resources (CONSERE). He contributed to the development of several strategies and action plans to combat soil degradation, reduce poverty, mitigate and adapt to climate change, improve the Sahelian agrarian systems and protect natural resources and the environment. He is a sustainable natural resources management Expert and Head of the Research and Development Department at the Pan-African Agency for the Great Green Wall.