This atlas on rural change in Africa was prepared at the request of the NEPAD Agency and under the overall coordination and guidance of Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, NEPAD Agency CEO, Estherine Lisinge Fotabong, Programme Implementation and Coordination Director, and Benoît Faivre-Dupaigre, Agriculture Adviser to the CEO.

It is part of the partnership between CIRAD and NEPAD and benefited from the financing support of AFD. Conceived to inform research and discussions during the Africa Rural Development Forum (ARDF) held in Cotonou, Benin, from 2 to 4 May 2013, it contributes to the work of the NEPAD Rural Futures programme.

The preparation of the atlas involved several teams from CIRAD (the ART-Dev, BSEF, CIRED, MOISA and TETIS research units, and the Communication Service). It was coordinated by Bruno Losch, Géraud Magrin and Jacques Imbernon. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of CIRAD alone.