Dr Adama Traoré is a veterinarian by training, with a PhD in animal reproduction from the University of Leipzig, Germany, in 1978. He is now a retired Research Director and Consultant. Since November 2016, he has been a founding member of the Malian Sciences Academy (ASM) and a member of the College of Agricultural Sciences ; He is President of the Academy since 2024.

Dr. Adama Traoré began his career in 1978 in Mali, as a researcher in Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER), then with the Arid and Semi-Arid Zones Program of the International Livestock  Center for Africa (ILCA now ILRI). Between 1990 and 1997, he was FAO expert in Togo. Back to Mali in 1998, he focused on the establishment and governance of the national agricultural research system as Executive Secretary of the National Council for Agricultural Research (CNRA). He was 1999 to 2001 Chairman of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) and Vice-Chairman of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). He has served on several international agricultural research Board: IITA, ICRISAT and AfricaRice, where he was Acting Director General from 2013 to 2014. He is fluent in French, English and German.