Team & Partners

Monique Bertrand is a Research Director at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) and is currently affiliated with the CESSMA (Centre for Social Sciences Studies on African, American and Asian Worlds) in Paris. Her research focuses on the social and territorial dynamics of cities in the Global South, with particular attention to the political economy of land and housing. Based on long-term empirical research in West Africa (notably Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Ghana), she examines urban transitions, mobility, land conflicts, and governance in metropolitan and peri-urban contexts. Her work combines longitudinal, multi-level methodologies and the articulation of quantitative and qualitative data, with a strong focus on Bamako and its metropolitan region.

Bérénice Bon is a geographer at IRD, affiliated with CESSMA, currently based in Kenya. She studies urbanization dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on land governance, urban expansion, and the social and economic processes shaping peri-urban areas. Her research examines land transactions, land-use conversion, and the regulation of land markets, as well as the sociology of property and financial flows in emerging urban frontiers. She also investigates environmental and climate-related changes linked to urbanization, including soil degradation, water access, and air pollution. Her analyses connect land and environmental governance to broader reflections on capitalism and the urban forms it produces.

Fatoumata Camara is an Associate Professor at the University of Social Sciences and Management of Bamako (USSGB), Faculty of History and Geography. Her teaching and research focus on land issues, urban, peri-urban and rural dynamics, land access and gender, natural resource governance, land conflicts, and housing and social policies. She has over fifteen years of experience in research on land tenure and territorial change in Mali. She has contributed to national and international research programs on citizen participation and social inclusion, including EU-funded studies conducted in Bamako and other regions of Mali. She is a member of the Laboratory of Engaged and Transnational Comparative Anthropology (LACET) and has participated in collective research addressing major societal challenges in Mali.

Cathy Chatel is a Research Engineer in Geography at Université Paris Cité, affiliated with CESSMA and Geoteca, and holds a PhD in Geography. Her research focuses on long-term population, settlement, and urbanization dynamics. Through the development of statistical and GIS databases on changes in the spatial distribution of populations, she has examined processes of urban expansion and the dispersion of settlement patterns in various regions of the world, particularly in Brazil, Europe, and Africa. Her expertise in population censuses has also contributed to a critical approach to statistical and spatial data, including categories and territorial delineations.

Armelle Choplin is Professor of Geography and Urban Planning at the University of Geneva (Switzerland). Her research focuses on how cities are produced, planned and experienced in the Global South, particularly in Africa and the Arab world. Her recent work explores the political economy of concrete and the social and environmental impacts of the construction boom in Africa.

Momar Diongue is a Professor in the Department of Geography at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in Dakar, Senegal. His research focuses on cities, peri-urbanization, metropolitan development, land tenure, mobility, urban governance, housing, and urban projects. He is also the Director of the Institute of Territorial Governance and Local Development at UCAD.

Amandine Hertzog-Adamczewski is a geographer and researcher at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), within the UMR G-EAU research unit. Her work focuses primarily on land tenure issues and irrigation in West Africa, particularly in Mali and Senegal. Her research addresses land governance, social justice in irrigation projects, conflicts over access to land, and land-related migration dynamics. For example, in an article published in Cahiers Agricultures, she analyzes the "land pathways" taken by agribusiness in the Senegal River delta. She is also a member of the editorial board of the journal Économie Rurale.

Rodrigue Houessè conducted his doctoral research on the trajectories of territories in northern Benin in response to socio-environmental changes, as well as the factors driving land-use dynamics since the 1970s. Between 2023 and 2025, he worked as a Research Engineer in spatial analysis at IRD, where he analyzed urbanization dynamics in Dakar, Bamako, and Nairobi using remote sensing tools. He previously served as a lecturer at the University of Paris.

Carol Kiarie is a Research and GIS Specialist with over ten years of experience in geospatial analysis and climate-resilient development in East Africa. She works at the intersection of spatial data, urban planning, and environmental management, producing data-driven insights for policy and decision-making. Her expertise includes spatio-temporal analysis of land use and vegetation, urban expansion modelling, and the integration of environmental and health indicators. She has collaborated with international research institutions, government agencies, and development partners. Carol has strong technical skills in GIS, remote sensing, and spatial modelling and is actively engaged in environmental and climate policy networks across the region.

Hannah Kinuthia is a lecturer at Kirinyaga University. A specialist in environmental planning, GIS, and remote sensing, she studies land dynamics and rapid urbanization in the outskirts of Nairobi. She holds a PhD in Environmental Planning and Management (Kenyatta University, 2022), an MSc in the same field (2014), and a Bachelor's degree in Landscape Architecture (JKUAT, 2010).

Mamadou Kouma holds a PhD in Geography and is an Associate Professor at the University of Social Sciences and Management of Bamako (USSGB). His research focuses on social and territorial dynamics in and around the district of Bamako, with particular attention to land conflicts, social mobilizations, decentralization and municipal governance, as well as processes of urban expansion and planning.

Philippe Lavigne Delville is a socio-anthropologist and Research Director at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), affiliated with the UMR SENS. At the intersection of development anthropology and the political sociology of public action, his current research focuses on land policies and land-related interventions in rural West Africa (notably Benin and Senegal). His work examines the complex negotiation processes involved in policy change, forms of political mobilization around land issues, and the implementation of land tenure formalization schemes.

Lahat Serigne Ndiaye defended his PhD in 2025 in socio-anthropology on the topic "Urban Expansion, Socio-Familial Trajectories, and Spatial Justice Issues in the Bambilor Area (Niayes, South of Dakar, Senegal)." He was a doctoral researcher at IRD within UMR SENS, under the supervision of Philippe Lavigne Delville, Research Director in Socio-Anthropology at IRD, and Sylvain Landry Faye, Professor at UCAD. His research focuses on land transactions, residential mobility, land-use change, and conflicts in the peri-urban areas of Dakar.

Claire Simonneau is an associate professor at Université Gustave Eiffel and a researcher at LATTS. Her work focuses on the production and governance of cities in the Global South, with particular attention to land appropriation practices and regulatory frameworks. Based on empirical research in West Africa, her current projects examine land transformations in urban fringes, notably in Benin and the Dakar region. She also studies social mobilizations for housing rights and the international circulation of alternative urban models, such as housing cooperatives and Community Land Trusts. Her research combines comparative approaches and international collaborative programs.