Starting a sustainable partnership between the forces of development and research in French Guyana

In the 1970s and the 1980s the French agronomic research institutes (INRA) used to support the farmers of the “Plan Vert” (Vissac 1990). But they have gradually withdrawn from the agricultural problematics of French Guyana. As a matter of fact, the partners of agricultural development are now facing multiple problems: increase in the food demand of the population, poor organization and fragility of the different sectors, difficulties in management of soil fertility and phytosanitary problems, lack of technical skills of the majority of the farmers. Therefore, the Chamber of Agriculture of Guyana appealed to the INRA Center of the West-Indies and Guyana (INRA AG) in 2005 to relaunch partnerships and facilitate the emergence of innovations. After several missions of researchers from the INRA AG, and in spite of the critical situation the Chamber of Agriculture, the Guyanese agricultural, institutional and professional partners (Regional Council, DAF,…) and the INRA AG all together appointed “AMBRE Développement” research consultancy in June 2009, in order to take an inventory of the needs and set up a sustainable partnership between research and development. The main prospects of the study were to define the requirements of an interface device in research anddevelopment, as well as the priority actions to be led within the scope of this device. After a presentation of the methodology implemented (analysis of the agricultural Guyanese background, making-up of thematic working groups), we will set out the actions we consider doing within the limits of a partnership based on the choice of organizational devices and schemes to be conducted jointly.