« Co‑construction d’un réseau d’acteurs pour l’évaluation participative des variétés d’igname en Guadeloupe »

About the organisation

INRAE (Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement) is a public research institution with a workforce of 12 000 people, 272 research, service and experimental units, and 18 regional centres across France. INRAE is a global leader in agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences. Its research aims to develop solutions for multi-performance agriculture, quality food, and sustainable management of resources and ecosystems.

About the role

The ASTRO research unit develops an interdisciplinary research project on the “Agro-ecological transition of tropical agricultural systems in a perspective of resilience to global changes”. Based in Guadeloupe, ASTRO has a dual objective: (1) scientifically, to generate new knowledge and develop innovative methods for understanding and enhancing the resilience of tropical agricultural and food systems, facilitating their agro-ecological transition through a multi-scale, interdisciplinary approach; (2) practically, to contribute to innovation and decision-making by supporting local stakeholders in the agro-ecological transition and sustainable development of tropical agricultural systems.

The PHENO-YAM project aims to build a participatory network for evaluating yam varieties, engaging local stakeholders around the valorisation of local knowledge, co-construction of science, and agro-ecological transition. The project seeks to integrate scientific research, local knowledge, and social innovation to create an inclusive and sustainable varietal evaluation network.

Within the PHENO-YAM project, Action 1 focuses on understanding the social, economic, and organisational factors influencing the participation of yam farmers and Creole garden owners in a participatory breeding (PB) programme.

Responsibilities

• Design the survey: develop interview guides, questionnaires, and observation protocols.
• Constitute the stakeholder network and sample.
• Conduct semi-structured interviews with 30 yam farmers, 30 Creole garden owners, and approximately 10 institutional actors.
• Facilitate participatory workshops to explore stakeholders’ representations, expectations, and needs related to participatory breeding.
• Process and analyse data:
  • Qualitative and quantitative analysis: thematic coding, descriptive statistics, actor mapping, and typology.
  • Identify engagement levers (e.g., cultivated biodiversity, intergenerational transmission, seed autonomy, heritage valorisation, compensation).
  • Analyse constraints (e.g., availability, resource access, institutional recognition, economic precarity).
  • Study the ergonomics of the digital tool: interface expectations, functionalities, usage frequency, and time commitment.
  • Analyse consent to participate: engagement modalities, number of accessions/plants, evaluation criteria, legal and GDPR aspects, shared governance.
• Present results to partners.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree (Bac+3/5) in agronomy, rural economics and sociology, social sciences, anthropology, social geography, or territorial development.
• Enrolled in a Master’s 1 or 2 programme.
• Interest in fieldwork, particularly surveys with farmers and agricultural stakeholders (prior experience desirable).
• Interest in field surveys and participatory approaches.
• Skills in qualitative analysis (NVivo, Atlas.ti, RQDA) and/or quantitative analysis (R, Excel).
• Basic knowledge of cartography (QGIS) appreciated.
• Strong interpersonal skills, methodological rigour, autonomy, and synthesis ability.
• Excellent relational and communication skills.

Benefits

• Up to 30 days of annual leave + 15 RTT per year (for full-time contracts).
• Support for parenthood: CESU childcare, leisure activities.
• Professional development: training, career guidance.
• Social support: counselling, social aid and loans.
• Holiday and leisure benefits: holiday vouchers, discounted accommodation.
• Sports and cultural activities.
• On-site catering.