With a view to sustainable development on a global level, the aim is to work together and with partners from industrialized and developing countries to build a shared vision of the changes in agriculture, food, the environment and the rural world, and to draw up and propose scientific programmes on topics of joint interest and on the gaps in knowledge identified.
By building on the skills and complementarity of the two organizations, the FI4IAR will be of benefit to agricultural research in terms of quality, relevance and the efficacy of what it has to offer on an international stage.

The issues are important and agricultural research needs to work harder than ever

Whether the issue is global warming, emerging diseases or food security and safety, CIRAD and INRA are both well aware of the growing importance and globalization of the issues facing agricultural research, in a determined institutional context reflected in the "Millennium Development Goals".
There are huge challenges to be met in ensuring high agricultural and renewable carbon production while preserving natural resources, and what is more under socioeconomic conditions that will benefit both North and South. As a result, agricultural research and development have necessarily taken on an international dimension.
The FI4IAR is the only PIG of its type in the world: it will provide the two organizations, at the highest level, with real strategic study forums that will both benefit from and contribute to the evolution of science and will also enable them to work towards pertinent and open proposals of scientific programmes aimed at both national and international decision-makers.
The FI4IAR's main aim is thus to boost France's contribution on an international scale, particularly as regards the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

A joint work programme for 2007-2008

The programme is based on the results of a brainstorming operation in 2006. For instance, it includes:
- prospective studies such as "Agrimonde” (on farming and food systems worldwide in 2035),
- structuring partnerships with the main international research centres and participating in programmes on topics such as climate change,
- seeking complementarities and synergies in target geographical zones such as the Mediterranean or emerging countries.

Two establishments with a shared vision, complementary strategies, and different remits

The two establishments will keep their different remits and thus their specificities, along with control of their research structure (scientific units and departments), under the aegis of their Boards of Trustees.