Walloon Agricultural Research Center

CRA-W maintains numerous contacts with farmers and horticulturists, companies, universities, Belgian and foreign research centres. It thus participates in numerous European, national and regional research projects. Its active presence in development aid also attests to its international influence.

The recognition of CRA-W is confirmed by the expertise missions of its researchers within national and international organizations, by the certifications obtained in recent years and the designation of some of its units as reference laboratories.

The range of its services and analyzes cover all areas of agriculture.

Research orientations and objectives

The orientations and operational objectives of CRA-W's research activities can be grouped around five main axes:

• Improving the living environment, preserving the environment and producing sustainably

The CRA-W is part of the objective of a policy of sustainability of production systems which integrates the protection of the environment and the preservation of natural resources.

• Improving human nutrition, preserving consumer health and taking food behavior analyzes into account

The objective of CRA-W is to resolutely place regional agriculture within the framework of society's expectations and more particularly those relating to the safety, quality and functionality of products.

• Diversify products and their uses, improve their competitiveness and that of producers and businesses

CRA-W wishes to increase the competitiveness of Walloon products through the creation of differentiated quality products, the development of applications for non-food use (biomass, biofuels, etc.) and the emergence of new plant and animal sectors.

• Adapt species, practices and production systems to changing contexts
• Adapting our production systems to changing political, economic, ecological and societal contexts requires a global approach and the use of various skills (genetic, agronomic, zootechnical and veterinary, technical, sociological, economic, etc.). This therefore presupposes multidisciplinary projects and therefore various collaborations and partnerships.
• Informing the decision of public and private actors

Thanks to its capacity for innovation and anticipation, the CRA-W has a technology watch, forecasting and expertise function that it makes available to the RW. Furthermore, it must inform and feed the public debate (ethics of production methods, animal welfare, GMOs, etc.).