Our missions
The Institute for Organic Agriculture and Food (Institut de l’agriculture et de l’alimentation biologiques - ITAB) is an applied research organization that aims to produce and disseminate knowledge to improve organic production and processing.
The Institute for Organic Agriculture and Food (ITAB) is an applied research organization. With dual ITA and ITAI technical accreditation (dual accreditation in “agri” (upstream) and “agro-food” (downstream) in the ACTA and ACTIA networks), it aims to produce and disseminate knowledge to improve organic production and processing.
For more than 40 years, ITAB has been bringing together and uniting a network of stakeholders who innovate in agricultural practices and in healthy, accessible, and responsible eating. By developing and sharing scientific insights, it works to transform our agriculture and food systems towards resilient, equitable, and sustainable models.
Rooted in the founding principles of organic farming (health, ecology, fairness, and care), ITAB fulfills four missions in a holistic manner: 1) it produces knowledge, 2) it supports decision-makers and offers services to agricultural and agri-food companies, 3) it brings together R&D organizations working on organic farming, and 4) it promotes and shares knowledge to accelerate transitions.
Based on the values and principles of collaboration, integrity, rigor, and innovation, ITAB works in the common interest with and for farmers, advisors, processors, trainers, public authorities, civil society, and even consumers and citizens.
Our approaches and working methods
Through its applied research in collaboration with stakeholders, ITAB has contributed to the emergence and growth of organic farming in France.
By focusing its actions on the farming or livestock system as a whole, as well as on the farm, the region, and even the agri-food system, ITAB takes a systemic approach. The Institute's scientific strategy is thus designed in a comprehensive manner, following an upstream-downstream continuum, from seed to plate. This approach, which cuts across all sectors, makes ITAB a unique structure in the landscape of agricultural and agri-food innovation.
The Institute is committed to an open innovation approach, based on innovative participatory methods, to co-produce and share knowledge for organic farming. To this end, it has built a working ecosystem conducive to collective innovation. Surrounded by a first circle of close partners specializing in organic farming—Itab-Lab and ABioDoc—and a second circle composed of a diverse group of members and a network of national and European partners, ITAB acts as an interface between “traditional” structures and structures specific to organic farming.
