Month: July 2025

At the 92nd ACFAS conference, held May 5–9, 2025, in Canada on the theme of “cross-disciplinary research perspectives on responsible management practices,” the CLIPSSA project (Climate of the South Pacific, Local Knowledge, and Adaptation Strategies) gave a voice to Pacific island agriculture. In a presentation entitled “From perception to adaptation strategies: local climate change management practices in New Caledonia and Vanuatu,” Samson Jean Marie, a doctoral student in anthropology and geography working on this project, presented the initial results of these field surveys. He explained how farmers in these territories, who are on the front line of climate change, are adapting their practices to cope with it.

 

Territories on the front line

Oceanian societies, which are heavily dependent on natural and agricultural resources, are on the front line when it comes to intensifying weather, climate, and environmental disturbances: prolonged droughts, destructive cyclones, soil salinisation, and shifts in agricultural seasons. Vanuatu, regularly ranked among the countries most exposed to global climate risks, is a striking example of this. In New Caledonia, repeated episodes of La Niña and El Niño are causing water imbalances and undermining food security in rural areas.

Based on around 100 interviews conducted with farmers, institutions, politicians, and local organisations, Samson, in collaboration with the project’s research team, analyses how agricultural knowledge is built and transmitted in the face of climate change.

This resolutely interdisciplinary approach combines anthropology, agronomy, geography, sociology, and climatology to grasp the complexity of local dynamics. In his presentation, the doctoral student outlined a range of local adaptive responses, such as crop management practices, water management strategies, local cyclone warning systems, and post-disaster responses identified in the areas studied. “Adaptation is not simply a matter of applying international recommendations. It is experienced, improvised, and discussed at the level of gardens, fields, and families,” explained the young researcher.

 

Dynamic local knowledge

Contrary to popular belief, local knowledge is not static. It is transmitted, adjusted, and reinvented in response to climate change. Traditional mulching, hole cultivation, water storage in handmade tanks, adaptation of varieties, and community oral alerts before cyclones: farmers’ innovations take many forms, often invisible to decision-makers, but central to local resilience. “In several villages in Vanuatu and among tribes in New Caledonia, experienced farmers serve as information relays before cyclones arrive. They read the signs of the wind, the birds, and the sea.  These biocultural markers, combined with weather information, enable farmers to anticipate the event [cyclone] ” better, as observed more broadly by the research team.

 

From words to action: when local practices lead the way

By documenting this knowledge, the CLIPSSA project highlights that rural communities in the Pacific are not simply “vulnerable” to the effects of climate change: they are already taking action, often in pragmatic and innovative ways, far from the media spotlight or international climate policies. In other words, these initiatives already embody a responsible approach to climate and environmental change management at the local level. They provide a concrete foundation on which public policies and institutions can build.

The ACFAS conference thus provided a forum to highlight the urgent need to change approaches to local agricultural adaptation practices in climate policies. In response to the conference title, “Cross-disciplinary research perspectives on responsible management practices,” and the conference debate, “Moving from words to action,” the doctoral student replied: “It is time to move from words to action. And that starts with recognising that adaptation cannot be decreed, but must be built with those most directly affected: the inhabitants themselves. Local practices, particularly those related to adaptive responses to the impacts of climate change, are a form of local expertise in action. Ignoring them means depriving ourselves of essential levers for sustainable adaptation.”

Taro plantation in the ‘voura’ of Ipayato (Santo, Vanuatu) @ Samson JEAN MARIE

As part of the “Pacific Climate, Local Knowledge and Adaptation Strategies” project (CLIPSSA), researchers in human and social sciences (HSS) have been deployed in the four countries and territories involved: New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia and Vanuatu. Their objective: to document and report on local agricultural knowledge and its evolving strategies for adapting to the challenges of climate change.

 

Key Figures

To date, the HSS teams have conducted several hundred interviews across the various study sites:

• New Caledonia (La Foa, Canala and Maré): 89 farmers, 11 institutional and political stakeholders

• Vanuatu (Espiritu Santo and Efate): 43 farmers, 12 institutional and political stakeholders

• French Polynesia (Tahiti and Moorea): 57 farmers, 3 food processors, 36 institutional actors, 10 researchers

• Wallis and Futuna (Futuna and Alo): 25 farmers, 10 institutional stakeholders

 

Three Months of Fieldwork in French Polynesia – First Half of 2025

From April to July 2025, postdoctoral modeller Dakéga RAGATOA (in charge of French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna) and project engineer Fleur VALLET accompanied the HSS field team, composed of postdoctoral anthropologist Maya LECLERCQ and interns Chloé DELBOVE and Moeana PENLAE.

Institutional meetings and interim feedback

On the islands of Tahiti and Moorea, the researchers engaged in discussions with the Chamber of Agriculture and Lagoon Fishing (CAPL), the Department of Agriculture (DAG), the CRIOBE research center, the AgroDev and Pae Tai Pae Uta (PTPU) consultancies, the Opunohu agricultural high school, and the “Taro ITE” project team, supported by the KIWA Initiative.

 

 

Public seminar at the University of French Polynesia

On April 22, a seminar at the Pacific Human Sciences Center (MSHP) enabled Maya and Dakéga to present the project’s methodology and early findings. This public restitution reflected the project’s commitment to science communication and local stakeholder engagement. The event brought together AFD Polynesia, NGO representatives, students, and researchers. A second presentation was held at Saint Joseph High School in Punaauia, where Dakéga introduced the APSIMX agroclimatic model, used to simulate future climate effects on Pacific crops, particularly tubers (yam, taro, cassava…).

Read more: From Local Knowledge to Simulation: An Integrated Approach to Anticipating Climate Impacts on Pacific Root Crops & seminar recording

 

Engaging with Local Stakeholders

Maya, the anthropologist in charge of coordinating fieldwork in French Polynesia, led the research alongside Catherine SABINOT, IRD anthropologist and CLIPSSA scientific coordinator. Field interviews with farmers were conducted by Chloé and Moeana, both completing their master’s internships within the CLIPSSA project—Chloé through the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, and Moeana through the University of French Polynesia. They spent several weeks with farming communities: Moeana in Moorea and Chloé on Tahiti’s peninsula, gaining insights into agricultural practices and climate adaptation strategies. Their findings complemented the results produced in 2024 by Maya and Marie-Amélie RICHEZ.

The mission concluded with several feedback workshops for the people involved in the study: future farmers enrolled in the BTSA program at Moorea Agricultural High School, farmers from Moorea, and those from the Tahiti Peninsula.

Read more: CLIPSSA Scientific Findings Presented at the Opunohu Agricultural High School, Moorea

 

Three Months of Fieldwork in Vanuatu – First Half of 2025

Meanwhile, Samson JEAN MARIE, PhD candidate in anthropology and geography, and Ida PALENE, intern from ISTOM, completed a total of six months of immersive fieldwork in Efate and Espiritu Santo. Catherine SABINOT joined them for two weeks. In April, postdoctoral modeller Gildas GUIDIGAN also joined the team for three weeks to familiarise himself with the field and meet institutional stakeholders managing agricultural data.

Institutional and Scientific Engagement

To ensure strong collaboration with local institutions, many meetings were organized.
In Efate, the team engaged with the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department (VMGD), the Department of Agricultural and Rural Development (DARD), and representatives from the Van-KIRAP project (Vanuatu Klaemet Infomesen blong Redy, Adapt mo Protekt), aimed at strengthening the country’s resilience to climate change.
In Espiritu Santo, a working visit to the Vanuatu Agriculture Research and Training Center (VARTC) was coordinated by Marie Vianney MELTERAS, the center’s director of research and CLIPSSA focal point in Vanuatu.

 

An Ethnography of Agricultural Knowledge

Samson and Ida shared the daily lives of rural farming communities in Santo and Efate over several weeks. In households, fields, markets, forest paths and rivers, they engaged with elders, youth, women and men, as well as institutional and customary actors. They chose an immersive, participatory approach based on observation, dialogue, and careful listening. Occasionally joined by Catherine during their stay, they used a variety of methods: semi-structured interviews (individual and group), participant observation, discussion workshops, and georeferenced mapping of fields and knowledge-sharing locations.

Farming Systems in Constant Adaptation

Their research revealed a wide array of adaptive strategies implemented by farming families: diversification of plots, crop rotation, preservation of traditional irrigation systems, farming in more remote areas…
While Samson’s work is part of his PhD research on local knowledge and adaptive capacities, Ida focused on the often-overlooked role of women, who play a central part in fieldwork, seed preservation, and knowledge transmission.

Back from the field, the two young researchers brought back more than just data—they also returned with a new language that they now harem save (understand) and toktok (speak): Bislama. A living testimony to their immersion and the relationships forged with the communities they encountered.

 

 

CLIPSSA: Between Pitchfork, Furnace, and Climate Forecasts

Throughout their investigations, the researchers also immersed themselves in the processing and culinary uses of the food crops studied within CLIPSSA. From Vanuatu’s laplap to nalot, a traditional island meal, and through coconut milk preparation workshops in Taravao (French Polynesia), the teams engaged with the food cultures of their hosts.

These moments also echoed a broader issue at the heart of the CLIPSSA project: the food sovereignty of Pacific Island communities.

 

Want to Learn More? 

Stay tuned for upcoming articles featuring field reports from our human and social sciences interns. 

Final Internship by Moeana PENLAE

University of French Polynesia – Master’s Degree (Year 2) in Biodiversity, Ecology and Environment, specialisation in Pacific Island Environments (BEE – EIO)

February – July 2025

Supervisors: Maya LECLERCQ (IRD), Catherine SABINOT (IRD)

Participated in the facilitation of 3 feedback workshops in Tahiti and Moorea in June and July 2025, bringing together agricultural students and local farmers met during fieldwork. 

 

Figure 1: Photo of one of the feedback workshops held in Moorea with Agricultural BTS students and trainees in Agricultural Installation Training (FIA) at the Centre de Formation Professionnelle et de Promotion Agricole (CFPPA) of Opunohu (Source: Maya Leclercq, June 2025)  

 

Article summary 

Pacific island territories are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, especially regarding small-scale agriculture, which is subject to challenges such as irregular rainfall, droughts, and fragile ecosystems. In this context, proper water management and the preservation of adapted agricultural knowledge are essential to ensuring food security. This study, conducted in Moorea as part of the CLIPSSA project, focuses on how farmers adapt to environmental challenges. Our team carried out interviews, field observations, and participatory workshops, highlighting a diversity of local strategies: the use of traditional environmental indicators, and innovative techniques such as drainage systems and composting. The study reveals two main types of agricultural knowledge: on one hand, ancestral knowledge transmitted orally or through observation—such as lunar cycles (tarena) or plant phenology; on the other, contemporary knowledge stemming from modern practices, shared via media, online videos, or training programs. Hybrid forms of knowledge transmission exist, where knowledge circulates through peer exchanges, social networks, or training programs that blend empirical practices with technical input. However, this knowledge is weakened by socio-economic constraints, such as the declining interest of youth in agriculture and difficulties in accessing land. This work thus highlights the vulnerabilities in the transmission of agricultural knowledge and underscores the importance of grounding adaptation policies in local realities. 

 

Study context 

High islands such as Moorea are particularly vulnerable to climate change: extreme rainfall, flooding, landslides, and prolonged droughts. These hazards threaten local food security and complicate water management, especially for sensitive crops like taro or vegetables. For this study, the research area covers a significant portion of Moorea, including an agricultural subdivision and the agricultural high school in the Opunohu valley, as well as valleys where subsistence farming is practiced. 

Figure 2: Study site 

 

In addition to climate-related challenges, farmers face several social constraints. Young people often turn away from agriculture, drawn to jobs perceived as more prestigious. Access to land remains difficult, with land often being shared or legally insecure. Finally, traditional knowledge is gradually disappearing as farmers age—the average age is 49 (RGA 2023)—threatening knowledge transmission and generational continuity. 

The study is based on 18 semi-structured interviews conducted from mid-April to the end of May on the island of Moorea, involving institutional stakeholders (Department of Agriculture (DAG), Chamber of Agriculture and Lagoon Fisheries (CAPL), etc.), farmers, and informal discussions with roadside fruit and vegetable vendors. 

 

Main results 

The results highlight a diversity of adaptation practices that reflect both a strong cultural foundation and a high capacity for innovation:

• Water: A central issue
  During periods of heavy rainfall (December–January in French Polynesia), excess water currently represents one of the main climate challenges for farmers in the Opunohu Valley, especially for sensitive crops such as taro, banana, or papaya, which suffer from soil saturation. In some areas, drainage systems (drainage ditch) or rainwater collection systems have been implemented, sometimes in a homemade manner. However, workshops conducted with farmers showed that this constraint is not shared by all: on sloped land, natural runoff allows water to drain more easily, thereby reducing the risk of waterlogging. 

Figure 3: Photo of a drainage ditch dug on a farmer’s land in Opunohu (Moorea) to evacuate excess water (Source: Moeana Penlae, July 2025) 

 

• Crop choices adapted to local context
  Producers adapt their choices based on topography, soil quality, and water access: banana trees in humid areas, citrus trees on higher ground, and pineapples on dry terrain. Some diversify their crops to reduce risk. 

• Knowledge in constant hybridization
  Many farmers continue to use traditional indicators such as tarena or natural signs (plant phenology, appearance of insects indicating imminent rain, etc.). These indicators are combined with modern sources such as online tutorials, advice from the Department of Agriculture (DAG), or agricultural training (CFPPA). 

• A strong connection to the land
  The fa’a’apu is more than a field: it is a place of learning, memory, and identity. It embodies a sensitive relationship to the fenua, a Tahitian term generally referring to a country, land, or territory. It is often associated with everything related to the soil, the environment, or cultural belonging. 

• Weakened knowledge transmission
  Agricultural knowledge has traditionally been passed down through observation and hands-on practice between generations. Today, this transmission is fading, as young people are showing less interest in the agricultural sector, with the farming profession being undervalued. 

 

Spending less to adapt 

In a context of limited resources, farmers are developing low-cost and autonomous solutions, often outside institutional frameworks: 

• Natural compost made from food scraps, banana leaves, plant waste, or fish waste 

• Buried containers and repurposed tarps to store rainwater 

• Raised beds or elevated growing areas to prevent water stagnation 

• Crop associations to optimize soil moisture (e.g., planting banana trees around other crops) 

It has been observed that, to cope with climate change, many farmers implement simple and inexpensive solutions, often created by themselves. In 1962, Claude Lévi-Strauss described the “bricoleur” as someone who creatively assembles available materials to solve problems—illustrating the inventiveness of these practices through flexible and resourceful thinking. These practices also reflect a certain degree of isolation: due to a lack of targeted support, adaptation often relies on individual efforts. 

 

Conclusion 

Agriculture in Moorea is currently shaped by multiple challenges: climatic, social, and institutional. Yet, farmers demonstrate active resilience by inventing new ways of farming, learning, and transmitting knowledge. This resilience is based on: 

• A deep understanding of the environment 

• An ability to experiment, adapt, and improvise 

• A strong cultural attachment to the fenua 

• A determination to preserve a way of life connected to the land 

To strengthen this dynamic, it is urgent to: 

• Recognize farmers as co-actors in climate adaptation 

• Support modest solutions and local innovations 

• Create spaces for intergenerational exchange 

• Include local knowledge in public climate policies 

Although rooted in Moorea, this research offers valuable lessons for other island territories. It shows that local agricultural knowledge is not a thing of the past, but a valuable resource for building a more resilient, self-reliant, and climate-adapted future. 

Supported by IRD, Météo-France and AFD, the CLIPSSA project (Pacific Climate, Local Knowledge and Adaptation Strategies) aims to give a voice to the younger generation on climate change, blending science with the art of writing. The Clim’en Vers initiative stems from this ambition. It was conceived by Caroline AGIER, communications and digital affairs officer at the interregional office of Météo-France in New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna. The goal is to guide students in creating texts related to climate change and adaptation, and to showcase their work at relevant events in the form of display panels.

 

Passing on knowledge about climate change

To launch the project, Thomas ABINUN, meteorology and climate studies engineer at the Météo-France interregional office in New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna, and Myriam VENDÉ-LECLERC, climate adaptation strategy officer for the Government of New Caledonia, introduced students to the key concepts of global climate change and the different ways to adapt to it. On Tuesday, May 6, 2025, two classes from Lycée Escoffier in Nouméa attended this presentation, coordinated by their science teacher, Ms. BERTRAND.

Introductory session on climate change at Lycée Escoffier, 05/06/2025, ©Cléophée MONTIZON

Choosing key words, writing and performance

In the second stage—writing—the 10th-grade class in Hospitality and Catering Sciences and Technologies (STHR) dedicated two hours of their French class on Thursday, May 22, to the activity led by Mr. MAFFAY. This writing workshop was facilitated by Georgina SIOREMU, artist and communications and science mediation assistant within the CLIPSSA team. It allowed students to create heartfelt, committed texts while sharpening their sense of rhythm through a final recitation. Their original work emerged from four different writing prompts: 

• Write a letter to someone close to you who lives on the other side of the world and doesn’t yet fully understand the impact of climate change. Warn them.

• You live by a river. Due to heavy rains, your house was flooded and you had to move up into the mountains. Describe how you feel.

• Do you know the story of the hummingbird metaphor? If it could speak, what would it say to humankind?
• You run into a former internship supervisor years later. He runs a restaurant and tells you how hard it has become to source key ingredients—especially yam, sweet potato and taro—because of droughts and floods. You go home and write your thoughts in a journal.

Writing session at Lycée Escoffier,  May-July 2025, ©Caroline AGIER

 

In the following workshops, held on Wednesday, July 2 and Wednesday, July 9, students added stylistic devices and refined their sentences to make them more impactful. Each group then practiced performing their text aloud.

On Thursday, July 3, 11th-grade students were surprised by the arrival of a new guest: Simane, a slam artist with both local and international recognition, joined by influencer and TV presenter Astro, and Passil, organizer of the Urban Films Festival. They introduced them to the fundamentals of slam poetry—its definition, values, and purpose. Using a list of verbs and a word cloud on the theme of “the environment”, he created a slam in just a few minutes. Simane then offered a wealth of advice on how to deliver and pace their texts. The students watched several slam performances by the guests.

Writing session at Lycée Escoffier, 07/03/2025, ©Caroline AGIER

 

The second hour was devoted to a writing workshop led by Georgina, designed to link the students’ future profession in hospitality to the CLIPSSA project. A series of prompts helped guide their writing:

• Tomorrow’s menu – cooking in times of crisis: Imagine a restaurant in 2050 facing food shortages due to climate change. How do they adapt? What new recipes? What creativity?

• The submerged school – tale of a sunken place: Tell the story of a hospitality school located on a coastline threatened by rising sea levels. What happens to its staff, its clients, its legacy?

• The last chance banquet: You are organizing a symbolic meal to raise awareness about climate change. What’s on the menu? Who do you invite? What is the atmosphere like?

• Journal of an eco-responsible apprentice: You follow an apprentice learning to cook and serve while reducing environmental impact—sorting waste, sourcing locally, saving energy, following ethical practices…

• A world without seasons: Imagine a world where seasons no longer exist. How does this affect restaurant operations and menu planning?

 

The young slammers thus went through all the key phases of text creation: developing ideas, searching for vocabulary, writing with rhyme, and incorporating stylistic devices. On Friday, July 4, the 11th-grade students finalized their texts, produced clean copies, and performed their final versions aloud.

The creative works of both 11th- and 12th-grade students were exhibited during the Caledonian Forum on Climate Change held on July 22, organized by the Government of New Caledonia in partnership with the University of New Caledonia (UNC).

Exhibition at the Caledonian Forum on Climate Change, 07/22/2025, ©Caroline AGIER

They will be showcased again on August 8 during the Science and ESD Festival organized by the Vice-Rectorate, and in October during the Science Festival coordinated by CRESICA.

Clim’en Vers exhibition panels, 07/2025, ©Caroline AGIER