Advancing sustainable rural development in the Mediterranean

Composed by thirteen Member States from the Mediterranean region, the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) is an intergovernmental organization sharing common objectives with FAO.

The long history of collaborations between the two organizations initiated in 1977 when the first joint activities started to be implemented. After years of interactions, a further step was accomplished in 2009 with the signature of a framework agreement focusing on areas such as traditional foods, forests’ protection, irrigation, plant disease management and quarantine measures.

In 2015, the two organizations moved forward in their relations by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was ratified in 2019. The MoU was initially designed to enhance the collaboration in areas such as food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture. On the other hand, the ratification was taken as an opportunity to expand the focus to new areas including sustainable management of natural resources, rural poverty, animal health, gender and youth.

To deliver the activities the organizations focused on the development of the following modalities: exchange of knowledge and expertise, policy dialogues and capacity development.

It is in this context of collaborations that during the current month, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and CIHEAM released the publication on the FAO-CIHEAM Partnership - Advancing sustainable rural development in the Mediterranean.

The objective of the publication is to provide an understanding of the collaboration between the two organizations which aim is to promote rural development, and address food security and sustainable agriculture needs of FAO’s Members in the Mediterranean.

Initiatives and events focusing on policy dialogues, the dissemination and exchange of knowledge, and capacity development activities are illustrated in this brochure as well as the development of joint research, technical projects, research and information networks, and a list of additional key-publications which may be of interest to further explore this successful collaboration.

At FAO we are sure that this brochure will help practitioners to find sustainable solutions to address rural development and food security challenges.