Résumé
The islands of the South Pacific are among the most exposed territories to climate change, but they are also areas of experimentation at the forefront of the fight against this phenomenon. These territories have resources embedded to their geographical, socio-cultural and ecological diversity, which can feed local, regional and national strategies for adapting to climate change.We'll be looking at localized resources such as local knowledge linked to agricultural practices: how can this knowledge be a resource for coping with climate change? How are they built, adapted, transmitted and how do they evolve? These questions are at the heart of the CLIPSSA project (Pacific Climate, Local Knowledge and Adaptation Strategies), deployed over 5 years (2022-2026) in four pacific territories: New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna.More specifically, we will look at empiricism as a fundamental resource for adapting local knowledge and farming practices to cope with climate change in French Polynesia. There are many learning channels (family, professional, specialized groups, trainings, IT tools, etc.) mobilized in different ways by farmers (Richez, 2024). Among them, empiricism, a method that relies on concrete experience, has been identified as a method for testing new practices, adjusting them, or even developing them within the farm. In some cases, new practices implemented through empiricism have even been disseminated, through informal observation and transmission, to other farmers.From qualitative surveys conducted with farmers on the Tahiti peninsula and in Moorea, we will examine the following questions: to what extent is empiricism a resource mobilized by farmers? Is it widespread, or confined to a few expert figures? Does it facilitate the hybridization of knowledge, specifically the hybridation of scientific knowledge with local knowledge systems? And at least, how can they be supported by public policies to help them adapt to climate change?