The Association of International Agricultural Research Centers (AIARC) was founded in 1992 by the International Agricultural Research Centers (the Centers) affiliated with the CGIAR; Rockefeller and Ford foundations; and USAID. It was the goal of these founding organizations to provide global benefits to research scientists living and working at these Centers.

AIARC is a not-for-profit 501 (c) 3 membership corporation, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, USA, and member organizations include twenty-two international agricultural research centers with staff living and working in over 100 countries.

The mission of AIARC is to support and leverage the resources of international agricultural research organizations by providing centralized management of specialized global personnel functions, to include: payroll, employee benefits, risk management, and compliance to reduce administrative time and costs. This pooling of resources provides the AIARC member organizations with benefits and services that would not be available or economical if performed individually. This arrangement enables the member organizations to focus on their missions – achieving sustainable food security and reducing world poverty.