The associative project
Our association
CARI is a French international solidarity association fighting against desertification.
Centre d’Actions et de Réalisations Internationales
The Centre d'Actions et de Réalisations Internationales (CARI) is a French association (governed by the law of 1901) for international solidarity, which has been active since 1998 in the fight against desertification around the Sahara. Led by pioneers in agro-ecology and the fight against land degradation, CARI is committed to safeguarding the nurturing heritage of arid and fragile environments. CARI promotes a sustainable agricultural model (agroecology, family farming) as a solution to land degradation in arid zones in rural areas of three main types: oasis regions, semi-arid zones in dry Africa, and Mediterranean climate terroirs in France.
CARI's field actions are designed to support and mobilize civil society, with a view to influencing national policies and international decision-makers. The association has become a reference on the subject of desertification, both for the French government and for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
Some strong principles of CARI
Subsidiarity
CARI does not seek to replace local expertise. It supports civil society organizations and local authorities working in their respective countries. It therefore has no expatriate employees in the field.
Multi-actor dialogue
CARI mobilizes civil society in its various forms, as well as research, local authorities and institutions, to foster ongoing, constructive dialogue.
Networked action
Convinced that more is more, CARI has always promoted networked action to encourage the exchange of experience and the dynamics of advocacy.
Our values
CARI believes in people and their ability to change the world. All its work is based on networking and exchange. Le CARI shares a commitment to humanism and solidarity, based on social and environmental justice, and respect for human dignity for a fairer, more egalitarian world.
- 74% of the world's poor are directly affected by land degradation.
- 1.5 to 2 billion people in over 100 countries are threatened by desertification.
CARI works with rural populations in arid zones who are facing climatic, political and economic hazards. CARI supports them in defending their rights locally, nationally and internationally.