The International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education (ICARE) Foundation was established on April 1, 2005 in Yerevan, Armenia. ICARE was founded on the basis of a cooperative agreement between the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Texas A&M University to administer the Agribusiness Teaching Center (ATC) operating within the Armenian State Agrarian University (ASAU) since 2000 as well as four other components: the Career Placement and Counseling Center, Agribusiness Research Group, ICARE Outreach Activities, and the Reform of Higher Agricultural Education in Armenia.

The ATC provides a quality agribusiness and marketing education for selected ASUA and Georgian State Agricultural University (GSAU) and the Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University, Georgia students for their future employment in the growing Armenian and Georgian agribusiness sector. The two-year and three-month curriculum is western-structured, based on the undergraduate degree agricultural economics curriculum of Texas A&M and includes an 8-week internship program.

The Agribusiness Research Group provides the ATC faculty with the opportunity to solicit and conduct research on relevant agribusiness topics and to promote their research on Armenian agribusinesses at national and international meetings.

The ICARE Outreach Activities include field trips to expose students to working with actual agribusinesses in Armenia and Georgia; Georgia Agribusiness Education Development Program; Friday Seminars; and Business Club activities.

The Career Placement and Counseling Center (www.careers.am) started its operation in May 2004 within ASAU. It implements a sustainable program of ASAU in identifying job opportunities and obtaining employment. The Project is funded by the Eurasia Foundation, Cafesjian Family Foundation, and USDA.

The “Reform of Higher Agricultural Education in Armenia” project, launched in 2006, is a joint initiative by the Armenian State Agrarian University (ASAU) and ICARE and is funded by USDA FAS. The project supports sustainable capacity building in ASAU to meet the standards set forth by the Bologna Declaration (1999) and be part of European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by 2010.