Postdoc in applied economics: Adapting agriculture to climate change
About the ReCROP project (Bioinocula and CROPping systems: an integrated biotechnological approach for improving crop yield, biodiversity and REsilience of Mediterranean agro-ecosystems)
The ReCROP project, funded under PRIMA, is a multidisciplinary European research project in which the Centre for Environmental Economics — Montpellier (UMR CEE-M) is participating. The objective is to improve the resilience and yield of crops, water conservation and soil health of different agroecosystems in the Mediterranean region in relation to climate change. The idea is thus to design resilient biodiversity-based agroecosystems for key Mediterranean crops, such as grapevine, maize and herbs/medicinal plants, by integrating technical and socio-economic aspects related to sustainable agricultural practices, in particular those linked to bio-inoculants.
The specific objectives of the ReCROP project are:
i) to improve soil properties (physical/chemical/biological) and carbon sequestration;
ii) to increase productivity;
iii) to enhance the provision of ecosystem services;
iv) to reduce agricultural inputs, prevent runoff and groundwater contamination;
and v) to improve water conservation.
Missions and responsibilities of the recruited post-doc
The recruited post-doc will contribute to the WP5 of the project dealing with socio-economic and environmental assessment, which associates researchers from UMR CEE-M and CEFE.
This WP will propose an economic evaluation of the provision of environmental services by farmers, in order to assess how farmers could be inclined to accept the implementation of agri-environmental contracts via payments, in exchange for the adoption of innovative agro-ecological practices favouring adaptation to climate change.
To this end, the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) methodology will be used to assess farmers’ preferences for the implementation of these contracts. This exploratory analysis will be carried out on vineyards in France (Occitania) and Portugal (Douro) in order to identify the key elements for 1) replicating the same approach in other countries, 2) extending it to other crops (e.g., maize).
The contract proposals will vary according to the levels of attributes that we will select with the help of Focus Groups (linked to WP2 of the project), e.g., management plans in terms of technical requirements, contract duration, technical assistance, as well as payments (in monetary terms). This will allow the deduction of the farmers’ Willingness To Accept (in €/ha/year) for the adoption of the contract, and more precisely for the different features of the contract, with regards to the opportunity cost to adopt new practices.
Profile sought/Skills
– PhD thesis in applied economics related to environment/agriculture
– Coordination of quantitative and qualitative data collection for a discrete choice experiment
– Organisation of the project specific Data Management Plan (DMP)
– Experience in data management and analysis (in Stata, R and/or SAS)
– Management of collected data (controls, validations, structuring in relation to the DMP)
– Descriptive and econometric statistics
– Ability to work in a team, and to interact with non-academic partners (notably public agencies and agricultural cooperatives)
– Fluency in English (written and oral)
Conditions
Hosted on the Richter campus/Faculty of Economics of the University of Montpellier, where most of the CEE-M faculty members are located.
Shared office.
Travel to be foreseen, in Occitania (France), in Douro Valley (Portugal) or in Galicia (Spain).
Duration: 18 months
Starting date: between January and March 2023
Remuneration: variable according to profile and professional experience
Contacts
The post-doc will be supervised by Thierry Blayac, Emmanuelle Lavaine and Sébastien Roussel.
You can also contact us for further information:
Thierry Blayac:
Emmanuelle Lavaine:
Sébastien Roussel:
Application
To apply, please send your CV and motivation letter by email to Sébastien Roussel () before December 1, 2022.
For the selected candidates, the interview will take place via video conferencing.
Nature of the job : Post-doc
Contact person : Sébastien Roussel,
Application deadline : 01/12/2022