Valérie is a consultant in the EMIC Division working on human mobility linked to climate change in Madagascar. She specializes in urban agriculture, land use planning and urban governance. She is particularly interested in land use change and how it relates to migration.
Valérie comes from Madagascar. Trained as an agricultural engineer, she first worked on development projects, notably setting up school gardens in poor households and public elementary schools. This was followed by a series of consultancy contracts in a range of themes, including food security, satellite image processing and land tenure but always in Madagascar.
Later, thanks to her close contact with researchers, she developed a taste for research. She completed a PhD before being recruited by UNU-EHS. Her thesis deals with the problems of urban planning in Antananarivo, focusing on the factors promoting and hindering urbanization, the relationship between urbanization and methods of accessing and securing land, and the gap between the rules and the practices of the stakeholders involved.
In addition to her professional activities, Valérie enjoys spending time with her family, singing and indulging in the rhythms of ballroom and Latin dancing.