Since the New York Declaration on Forests in 2014 and then the Amsterdam Declaration in 2015, many public and private stakeholders have committed to promoting production methods that do not involve deforestation. None of the numerous approaches promoted has yet had a decisive impact on levels of deforestation in tropical countries.
Production systems are increasingly globalised and tropical value chains are subject to both local and international markets and public policies. In many cases, economic or political measures to prevent or limit deforestation show their limitations. Value chains and production systems therefore represent a relevant analysis framework, which is still underdeveloped with regard to the sustainability of forests.

The overall scientific challenge for this position is to better understand the interactions between value chains and deforestation and to analyse the steps taken to develop sustainable value chains.

You will therefore be required to work on several research issues:
- How can companies, markets and certification standards encourage sustainable maintenance of forests and, in particular, their contribution to creating added value on a local level?
- How to improve the performance of local (and often informal) commodity chains in its use of forest and agricultural resources from forest areas to both increase their compliance with sustainability and zero deforestation objectives and for the benefit of small-scale producers and consumers in developing countries?
- What are the competition, complementarity or substitution relationships between public policies aimed at sustainability and zero deforestation and private mechanisms for regulating commodity chains?

To address these questions, you will be required to:
- Identify key players in production systems for timber and other forest products and analyse interactions between stakeholders, commodity flows and cash flows.
- Analyse and understand competition, complementarity and substitution relationships between public policy instruments and private mechanisms that seek to regulate the sustainability of markets, value chains and landscapes.
- Analyse value chains committed to sustainability and zero deforestation in producer countries according to their economic, social and environmental performance.
- Analyse and understand the influence of the various value chain regulation mechanisms in the emergence and sustainability of sustainable landscapes.
- Contribute to the work of the research team on the influence of private sector and large transnational corporate strategies on these value chains
- Understand and analyse the possible contribution of protected designations of origin, controlled labels of origin, territorial certification and other approaches to the promotion of sustainable value chains.

• PhD in economics, management sciences or geography
• At least 3 years of post-doctoral professional experience

• Expert knowledge of domestic and international value chain analysis and/or localised production systems (LPS).
• In-depth knowledge of public and private sector instruments to promote sustainability and zero deforestation, including certification standards.
• Knowledge of territorial management approaches such as jurisdictional, protected designation of origin, controlled label of origin, territorial certification or other approaches.
• Proven experience in the study of forest/agricultural production methods in developing countries, either in informal sectors involving small producers or in large industrial sectors, or ideally in both.
• Knowledge of European debates on policies and instruments to limit imported deforestation.
• Experience in working with companies and/or civil society organisations involved in combating deforestation.

• Excellent abilities in drafting scientific articles and in promoting scientific work (conferences, seminars and forums).
• Languages: French and English essential; Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian or Chinese would be an asset.
• Routine use of the main modelling, statistical analysis and econometrics languages.
• Ability to work as part of an interdisciplinary research team and to integrate multidisciplinary research issues.

After a 12 to 18-month induction period at the Montpellier site, you will be assigned to one of the countries where the “Forests and Societies” team runs projects: Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico or Indonesia.