Point Sud (South), centre for research on local knowledge, is an international, autonomous institution that focuses on training and research. The centre strives to achieve several goals, notably:

In November 1997, the University of Bayreuth in collaboration with the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, initially financed by the VolkswagenStiftung in Hannover, launched a project entitled “Local Knowledge in Rural Development Projects in Mali”. In the same year, this project gave birth to Point Sud, an independent international research and training centre based in Mali and established as a non-governmental organization.

The organisation of the institute rests upon three pillars: the direction, the scientific committee and the steering committee for the programme Point Sud.

Point Sud is sponsored by different financial partners in Europe and collaborates with numerous scientific institutions and researchers from Africa, Europe and the United States.