Our mission is “Maize and wheat science for improved livelihoods.”

We envision a world with healthier and more prosperous people — free from the threat of global food crises — and with more resilient agri-food systems.

We are the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT. We are a non-profit international agricultural research and training organization focusing on two of the world’s most important cereal grains: maize and wheat, and related cropping systems and livelihoods.

Maize and wheat feed the world

Together, these two crops sustain billions of people worldwide, generate nearly $50 billion in trade each year, and cover 400 million hectares of land. That’s approximately one quarter of the world’s cultivated farmland.

CIMMYT’s maize and wheat research addresses challenges encountered by low-income farmers in the developing world including food and nutritional insecurity, environmental degradation, economic development, population growth and climate change.