Role playing games as a participatory method to discuss the evolution of marketing practices in Melanesian households

摘要

This paper shows how the use of a participatory method based on role playing games (RPG) was adapted to Melanesian society. The aim is to discuss the evolution of Melanesian marketing practices. The framework of this experiment is a relatively global participatory monitoring of a development program in New-Caledonia. The goal of participatory monitoring is to increase the local population's involvement in issues raised by the development program; the main issue being the marketing of food crops. The tested RPG, by stimulating exchange between different farmers based on their own representations and skills, highlighted both different viewpoints about yams and the search for flexible marketing strategies among Melanesian households. These two elements explain why agriculture messages proposed as organizational and technical back-up to farmers are inadequate today in New-Caledonia. These results allow us to think about the use of RPG as a tool to build a shared vision of Melanesian agriculture.