The French Chambers of Agriculture are self-governing public bodies, led by elected farmers.
Their role is on the one hand to represent the farmers to local, regional and national authorities and on the other hand to offer a broad range of services to farmers, foresters and rural communities: advice (on techniques, business management, regulations...), training, facilitating groups (ex: EIP-AGRI operational groups), carrying out experiments, on-farm trials and demonstrations, initiating and coordinating local development projects, carrying out studies (ex: on land use planning)... They are one of the key players in the French Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS).
Their network covers the entire French territory, including the overseas regions. It comprises 86 local Chambers of Agriculture, 13 regional Chambers and a national umbrella organisation, Chambres d'Agriculture France. They have 3 200 elected members and employ about 8 200 permanent staff.