The cooperation agreement that INRA, CIRAD and Algerian agricultural research centers (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique d'Algérie, national institute for agricultural research of Algeria and Institut National de Recherche Forestière algérien, Algerian national institute for forestry research) fits in perfectly with the drive to step up cooperation with Mediterranean Rim countries, one of the strategic priorities for the public interest group (GIP) recently set up by INRA and CIRAD. In 2006, the French and Algerian Ministers of Agriculture launched a large-scale program to revitalize bilateral cooperation between the two countries, to cover agricultural training, higher education and research. Within this framework, INRA and CIRAD contacted their Algerian counterparts to draw up a cooperation program, with support from the Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier (IAMM, Mediterranean agricultural institute of Montpellier).
Under the terms of the cooperation agreement, research and training operations will be rolled out and the design and implementation of joint research programs will be facilitated. The target research fields encompass innovative sustainable animal and crop production systems, the sustainable management of natural resources, and specifically water, the impact of climate change on agriculture, biotechnologies applied to agriculture, the rural economy, local and regional development, and the control of emerging invasive plant and animal pathologies.
