About us
The MEDAE network was initiated as part of the NATAE project, a research project funded by the European Commission from 2022 to 2026, with the aim of promoting agroecological transition in North Africa. This project, which brings together 22 partners from around the Mediterranean (research institutions, technical institutes, high-level teaching bodies, international organizations and NGOs) aims to demonstrate that agroecological approaches, adapted locally to the diversity of farming systems, can offer adequate solutions to the challenges of food systems in North Africa. In particular, the project identifies optimal combinations of agroecological practices that can be adopted by local communities, by analyzing the performance of existing agroecological practices and experiments.
The MEDAE network was born out of the NATAE project and the desire of its partners to create a sustainable community of exchanges between the various stakeholders committed to the agroecological transition in the Mediterranean. The operating principles of the MEDAE network were developed through a collaborative process with the various NATAE project partners.
The MEDAE network has been officially open to new members since September 2024.
Host organization
The MEDAE network is hosted by the Institut Agronomique Montpellier Méditerranée (IAMM), one of the 4 institutes of the CIHEAM (Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes), who is coordinator of the NATAE project. The areas of expertise and action of this Mediterranean intergovernmental organization focus on agricultural and territorial management, project engineering, public policy in the agricultural, environmental, food and rural sectors, agri-food systems and agri-logistics.
Coordinating organization
The coordinating organization is responsible for implementing and monitoring the network’s activities, nurturing the network’s dynamics, and promoting the dissemination of information and decisions within the network. The coordinating organization may rotate every 3 years.
Since 2024, the coordinating organization has been CARI (Centre d’Actions et de Réalisations Internationales), a French NGO and leader in the development and implementation of agroecological initiatives in the Maghreb and Sahel. CARI supports and facilitates exchanges between research, farmers’ organizations, civil society, local authorities and donors, and advocates transformative policy changes in favor of agroecological transition.
Steering committee
The steering committee monitors activities and ensures they are in line with the network’s strategic plan, controls finances and examines membership applications. It guarantees the network’s vision, operationality and sustainability.
The steering committee is made up of focal points elected by their peers in Boards A (technical, educational and research institutes), B (development and experience-sharing organizations) and C (local stakeholders).
For more information, please see the network operating principles: English version or French version
Composition of the steering committee
The steering committee will be elected in February 2025.
Boards
MEDAE members are grouped into 4 boards:
Board A: Technical, educational and research institutes
This board is made up of research institutes, technical institutes, universities and agricultural high schools
Board B: Development and experience-sharing organizations
This board is made up of development stakeholders, NGOs and agroecology networks.
Board C: Local stakeholders
This board includes organizations acting on a more local scale: producers' and farmers' organizations, consumer associations, private sectors (distributors, processors, etc.), etc.
Board D: Political organizations and individual experts
This board includes local authorities, governmental and intergovernmental organizations. It also includes individual experts, recognized by the MEDAE network as resource persons. To join the network, individual experts must be sponsored by a member organization.
