Recently ISSER welcomed as visiting scholar Dr Guillaume Soullier, an Agricultural Economist of the Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), which is the French research centre for agricultural development. While here, Dr Soullier will collaborate with ISSER faculty on research projects as well as support activities that complement the research, training and advocacy mission of ISSER.
ISSER Director, Prof Peter Quartey said: “Having Dr Soullier here will help in advancing our collaboration with CIRAD. I warmly welcome him to ISSER and look forward to having the benefit of his experience and insights.”
ISSER currently has two active projects with CIRAD – the Cocoa4Future project, funded by the European Union and the French Development Agency, and RICE CRP from CGIAR – as part of an ongoing collaboration involving Dr Soullier.
According to Dr Soullier – whose engagements with co-researchers, since commencement of the first joint project two years ago, has been virtual – spending the next three years at ISSER will be essential in accelerating progress on the projects, while opening up opening up opportunities to explore further CIRAD-ISSER collaboration avenues.
Speaking on what attracted him to ISSER, Dr Soullier said: “I was attracted to ISSER as a host institute because of its high-quality research for development. The institute and its researchers have an international acclaim from the scientific community, policymakers and development donors, all of which make for a favourable context to successfully implement research projects.”
“ISSER has particularly good connections with policymakers in Ghana – an added advantage for successful collaborations.”
Professional objectives aside, Dr Soullier points to some interesting personal reasons for his excitement to be in Ghana, noting that being based at ISSER would help him in gaining greater understanding of how development processes and actors operate, as well as advancing his scientific carrier.
“Furthermore, Ghana seems to be a lovely country to live in, and I really appreciate Ghanaians. I am very happy to be here with my family because it is going to be an enrichment for each of us. For instance we have the opportunity to discover the Ghanaian culture and to improve our English, “he concluded.
As a researcher with specialisation in Agricultural Economics, Dr Soullier’s research is focused on food chains organisation, farmers’ livelihood strategies, collective action, political economy, and farmers’ inclusion. Most of his publications are about rice value chains in West Africa, including “Impacts of Contract Farming in Domestic Grain Chains on Farmer Income and Food Insecurity. Contrasted Evidence from Senegal.”
Before his debut as a researcher, Dr Soullier worked for NGOs in Senegal, Haïti and Afghanistan, where he started believing that value chain approaches can help in understanding how to improve farmers’ income. He holds a PhD degree in Agricultural Economics from Montpellier University.
He loves to read for his pastime, and is currently reading “the draining lake” by Arnaldur Indriðason, an Icelandic writer and master of suspense.
Dr Soullier will be at ISSER for the next three years and can be reached at guillaume.soullier@cirad.fr
ISSER wishes Dr Soullier a warm welcome and a happy and productive time in Ghana and at ISSER.