S10 - Session O2 - Institutional governance of varietal innovations in the plantain sector in Côte d'Ivoire

Authors: Euphrasie C. Angbo-Kouakou, Ludovic Temple *, Alexandre C. Assemien

Faced with increasingly frequent plantain supply disruptions and the need to structurally increase production due to population growth, the extension of production on pioneer fronts through deforestation is reaching its limits with respect to the last biodiversity reserves linked to primary forests. At another level, the intensive use of pesticides on plantains remains unsuitable for family farming in sub-Saharan Africa, given their economic (costs), sanitary (farmers' health) and ecological (biodiversity) risks. This context focuses research and innovation on intensification based on improved varieties or other resources (complementarity between crops, microbiota, etc.). As regards varietal innovation based on technological transfer, it documents more failure situations on plantains than successes. One explanatory variable concerns the role of institutions (Angbo et al., 2017). The objective of this contribution is to analyze the institutions that govern the adoption of varietal innovations in Cote d'Ivoire. We propose to qualify their nature and quantify the variables influencing the adoption and intensity of new varieties. The methodology for characterizing the plantain sector was based on four zones (Agboville, Adzope, Soubre and Abengourou) structured by a national system of four innovation platforms that simultaneously bring together research and direct sector actors. Face-to-face interviews, semi-structured guides and a quantitative cross-sectional survey of 244 farmers in the departments of Agboville and Soubre were conducted. The first result highlights the relational factors influencing the intensity of adoption of one of the three varieties transferred (Pita, Fhia and Big Ebanga): contact with promoters, membership in different collectives, as well as more individual determinants (gender, marital status, etc.). Further investigation of these results led to the identification of three forms of institutions that constitute governance filters for the adoption of new varieties: the operating rules of the platforms, the pre-harvest norms