CRAI – the French Committee for International Agricultural Research

The French Committee for International Agricultural Research (CRAI, Commission de la Recherche Agricole Internationale) is a tool for the French policy on international agricultural research.

Since its creation in 1978, CRAI aims at defining a shared vision and program for the French actors in international agricultural research.

CRAI is a consultative body among the main French actors in the field of international agricultural research (Research Organizations and Ministries). Its missions are the following :

• To define common positions on current issues relating to international agricultural research.
• To contribute to the elaboration of the French strategy for agricultural research for development (ARD) and to coordinate French actions in this field.
• To represent France at the CGIAR System Council and to interface with CGIAR, particularly since the installation of its headquarters in Montpellier (2011).
• To represent France at the European coordination bodies for ARD : European Initiative on Agricultural Research for Development (EIARD) and European Forum on Agricultural Research for Development (EFARD).
• To exchange and to disseminate information between French Research Institutes and Ministries.

The CRAI periodically gathers representatives of the three French Research Institutes involved in international agricultural research - CIRAD, INRAE, IRD -, Agropolis International, Agreenium, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the three ministries in charge of Agriculture, Foreign Affairs and Research.

A High-Level CRAI meets approximately once every two years, attended by the Research Institutes CEOs and the Ministries’ DGs. Its secretariat is provided by Agropolis International.