Résumé
In various regions of Nicaragua, upland rice production plays a major role for the food security of farmer's families and for generating incomes. Since 2002, CIRAD and CIAT develop together in Nicaragua a research project on participatory breeding of upland rice focused on small and medium-scale farmers. This project is managed in collaboration with the national agriculture research institution, NGOs, extension agencies and local farmers' organizations. In this paper, we described the general approach applied in the project, the participants involved, the research and dialogue frameworks, the breeding strategies and methods, and the main results obtained after three years of work. This experience provided lessons important for the development of research in close co-operation between breeders and farmers, the selection of partners, the working methods, and the exploration and valorization of genetic diversity, all of which may be useful for implementing future projects on the same topic. Future steps and main challenges of the project include scaling-up in the organization of a decentralized seed production system, the implementation of research activities in Agronomy and the creation of a permanent framework for rice breeding and evaluation which involves all the participants of the productive chain.