CIHEAM Bari is the Italian headquarter of the intergovernmental organization CIHEAM (Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Mediterranéennes), gathering 13 Mediterranean countries.
Established in 1962, CIHEAM Bari is a Center for post-graduate higher education, applied research and development cooperation. Since 2017, the Director of the CIHEAM Bari is Mr Maurizio Raeli.
All the activities of CIHEAM Bari concern issues linked to sustainable agriculture at large, such as: food security, poverty reduction, strengthening institutional capacity, efficient use of natural resources, exploitation of agricultural production and productivity, promotion of organic farming, development of sustainable food systems, climate change adaptation, integrated management of coastal areas, women empowerment, fishing and aquaculture.
CIHEAM Bari works in more than 20 Mediterranean, African and Asian countries and has hundreds of partnerships with institutions, academia, civil society and enterprises located in various countries.
In the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, at the entrance to the Strait of Otranto, CIHEAM Bari runs its field office in Tricase to promote sustainable development of coastal communities and protect biodiversity, through integrated actions including, inter alia, training programmes (capacity building and knowledge transfer, and sharing of good practices), cooperation with local, national and international institutional players, research and monitoring of marine and coastal resources, in close collaboration with the University of Salento.