International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM)

The International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) was founded at the joint initiative of the OECD and the Council of Europe on 21 May 1962 under an agreement signed by the governments of seven Mediterranean European countries. Since then six additional countries from the southern and eastern Mediterranean joined the Center.
The 1962 agreement establishing the Centre stipulates that CIHEAM's mission consists in "providing supplementary education (economic as well as technical) and developing a spirit of international cooperation among agricultural professionals of the Mediterranean countries". CIHEAM is made up of four Mediterranean Agronomic Institutes (MAIs), located in Bari (Italy), Chania (Greece), Montpellier (France) and Zaragoza (Spain). The General Secretariat is located in Paris.