It is a public industrial and commercial establishment (EPIC) founded in 1984, with its Head Office in Paris.
They joined forces in 1958 to form a liaison committee specializing in the French overseas regions, before merging in 1970 to form the Groupement d'étude et de recherche pour le développement de l'agronomie tropicale (GERDAT), the direct predecessor to CIRAD.
Original institutes: CIRAD's main task is to contribute to rural development in tropical and subtropical countries through research activities, experimentation, training (in France and overseas) and the dissemination of scientific and technical information.
Its operations are conducted at its own centres and those belonging to national agricultural research systems in its partner countries.
CIRAD makes its scientific and institutional expertise available to fuel public policy in those countries and the global debate on the main issues surrounding agriculture.