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Technogouv

Governance of technology in the Rice value chain in Côte d’Ivoire

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Abstract

In Africa, traditional value chains are made up of small-scale actors using simple technologies and with little coordination for product quality. Numerous policies aimed at supporting collective action by these actors in order to favour their access to technology and remunerative markets. Most of collective action attempts failed, but few of them seem successful, such as in the rice chains in Ivory Coast and Ghana. However, the literature documenting the drivers of technical and organizational innovations, and their impacts on value chain actors and value chain upgrading, is still scarce.

The aim of the Technogouv project is to raise the awareness of policy makers and scientists of technical and organizational innovations implemented by actors in the traditional rice value chains, and their impacts. The specific objectives of the project are 1) Co-learning of the drivers of innovations; 2) Assessing their impacts on farmers and processors’ income; 3) Improving policymakers’ understanding of the potential of innovations to upgrade the rice value chains.

The project will apply an interdisciplinary approach combining the economic and technological analysis of processing and production in the rice value chain in Ivory Coast and Ghana. An innovative theoretical framework will analyse how collective action (Ostrom 2010) led by technological innovation can drive governance towards more balanced forms (Gereffi, Humphrey, and Sturgeon 2005), and increase both rice producers’ and processors’ incomes. Cirad, AfricaRice, Aderiz and INPHB will implement three activities. Activity 1 consists in analysing with value chain actors the drivers of technical and organizational innovations in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Two participatory case studies will be performed in each country using the process tracing method. Activity 2 consists in a quantitative cross-sectional survey of 400 producers and 200 processors in Ivory Coast. The use of quantitative impact evaluation methods will enable correction of selection bias. Activity 3 consists in organizing a world café with policy makers and representatives of value chain actors in both countries, in order to discuss the potential contributions of technical and organizational innovations to upgrade the rice value chains.

The project will contribute to the strategy for rice development in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the Coalition for Rice Development and the CGIARD rice project. The project will also help a PhD student access positions in research and development organizations.

Goal

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the development of inclusive domestic food chains to improve smallholders’ incomes and food security in Ivory Coast and Ghana. The project specifically aims to draw the attention of policy makers and scientists to the technical and organizational innovations implemented by actors in the traditional rice value chain in both countries. The main challenge will be to identify the technical and organizational innovations that help improve product quality and the socioeconomic situation of farmers and processors. The hypothesis we will test is that actors of the traditional rice value chain already implement vertical and horizontal organizational innovations based on proximity that support technological innovations. Producers benefit from these innovations thanks to an increase in the sales price of paddy. Processors benefit from these innovations thanks to increased volumes of paddy, and improved product quality.

Project Number : 2002-231

Year : 2020

Type of funding : AAP ICL

Project type : AAP

Research units in the network : ART-DEV MOISA

Start date :
01 Oct 2021

End date :
20 Sep 2024

Flagship project :
Non

Project leader :
Guillaume Soulier

Project leader's institution :
CIRAD

Project leader's RU :
Art-Dev

Budget allocated :
67500 €

Total budget allocated ( including co-financing) :
67500 €

Funding :
Labex