Situe au nord-ouest du Benin, le departement de l’Atacora a une superficie de 20 499 km2 (soit 18... more Situe au nord-ouest du Benin, le departement de l’Atacora a une superficie de 20 499 km2 (soit 18% du territoire national) pour une population totale de 549 417 habitants (RGPH3 et estimee en 2007 a 659 341 habitants, soit 8% de la population du Benin) repartie dans 9 communes regroupant 47 arrondissements et 385 villages et quartiers de ville. Il est limite au Nord par la Republique du Burkina Faso, au Sud par le departement de la Donga, a l'Est par les departements de l'Alibori et du Borgou et a l'Ouest par la Republique du Togo. L’Atacora, departement par excellence de la diversite ethnique du Benin, regroupe plusieurs groupes socio-culturels et linguistiques dont les plus importants sont les Bariba 20%, les Berba 14%, les Waama 14%, les Besorabe 11%, les Natimba 10%, les Peulhs 10% et les Otamari 5%. Avec un climat soudanien fait d’une saison pluvieuse s’etalant sur 6 mois, la principale activite est l’agriculture qui emploie au moins 74% des actifs (RGPH3 en 2002) a...
The European-funded Framework Programme 7 project, Joint Learning in Innovation Systems in Africa... more The European-funded Framework Programme 7 project, Joint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agriculture (JOLISAA), assessed agricultural innovation experiences focused on smallholders in Benin, Kenya, and South Africa. Fifty-six cases were characterized through review of grey literature and interviews with resource persons, according to a common analytical framework inspired by the innovation systems (IS) perspective. Thirteen of the cases were assessed in greater depth through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and multistakeholder workshops. The cases covered a wide diversity of experiences in terms of types, domains, scales, timelines, initiators of innovation and stakeholders involved. Findings revealed multiple triggers and drivers of innovation. For external stakeholders, key triggers included likelihood of offering a technological fix to an existing problem and availability of funding. For local people, access to input and output markets was a powerful...
In the context of the EU-funded JOLISAA (JOint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agricult... more In the context of the EU-funded JOLISAA (JOint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agriculture) project, four local innovation processes involving smallholders in Benin were selected for in-depth assessment: innovation in hwedo agrofishing, integrated soil fertility management (ISFM), rice parboiling and soy value chains. Stakeholders directly involved in the innovation process were interviewed. As alternative to the currently challenged transfer-of-technology model of agricultural research and development (ARD) and in order to develop a framework for process monitoring, this paper presents underlying explanatory/analytical models derived out of lessons learnt from the four case studies, reflecting the main features of and the main drivers behind these innovation processes. The explanatory models are: i) feedback socio-ecological model; ii) pull-and-push innovation-driver model; iii) co-learning and joint selection model; and iv) historical account using the innovation bundle....
Innovation processes may remain unperceived over decades until outcomes become widely visible. Th... more Innovation processes may remain unperceived over decades until outcomes become widely visible. This paper depicts the introduction of soy in Benin and the multiple innovative processes resulting from orchestrated interventions as well as non-orchestrated initiatives among many small-scale food-processing units. Research on this complex innovation process was conducted within the framework of the EU-funded project JOLISAA (JOint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agriculture). An in-depth study was conducted over a six-month period in 2012 by a team of young agronomists supervised by senior scientists, mainly in three areas where soy is now largely produced and locally processed. In addition to smallholders, many of the other stakeholders involved were interviewed: researchers, oil-mill managers and decision-makers. The soybean innovation storyline begins in the late 1970s. Over time, a complex bundle of innovations emerged with many stakeholders engaged from farming communities, the private sector and NGOs. It encompassed small-scale food products such as cheese and mustard as well as industrial oil and feedstuffs. Major innovative products and processes concern soy as a substitute in local food for the poor. The innovation is now rooted in local habits and sustains an informal economy. Many linkages have been developed but few with State agencies. Key stakeholders, particularly farmers and small entrepreneurs, receive little support from agricultural research and development (ARD) organisations. Recognition of this innovation process is a real challenge. This innovation experience illustrates how an innovation process of significant economic importance can remain largely unacknowledged by ARD and State agencies over decades. Trajectories of this innovation process were largely unexpected and could not have been planned at early stages. (Resume d'auteur)
Situe au nord-ouest du Benin, le departement de l’Atacora a une superficie de 20 499 km2 (soit 18... more Situe au nord-ouest du Benin, le departement de l’Atacora a une superficie de 20 499 km2 (soit 18% du territoire national) pour une population totale de 549 417 habitants (RGPH3 et estimee en 2007 a 659 341 habitants, soit 8% de la population du Benin) repartie dans 9 communes regroupant 47 arrondissements et 385 villages et quartiers de ville. Il est limite au Nord par la Republique du Burkina Faso, au Sud par le departement de la Donga, a l'Est par les departements de l'Alibori et du Borgou et a l'Ouest par la Republique du Togo. L’Atacora, departement par excellence de la diversite ethnique du Benin, regroupe plusieurs groupes socio-culturels et linguistiques dont les plus importants sont les Bariba 20%, les Berba 14%, les Waama 14%, les Besorabe 11%, les Natimba 10%, les Peulhs 10% et les Otamari 5%. Avec un climat soudanien fait d’une saison pluvieuse s’etalant sur 6 mois, la principale activite est l’agriculture qui emploie au moins 74% des actifs (RGPH3 en 2002) a...
The European-funded Framework Programme 7 project, Joint Learning in Innovation Systems in Africa... more The European-funded Framework Programme 7 project, Joint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agriculture (JOLISAA), assessed agricultural innovation experiences focused on smallholders in Benin, Kenya, and South Africa. Fifty-six cases were characterized through review of grey literature and interviews with resource persons, according to a common analytical framework inspired by the innovation systems (IS) perspective. Thirteen of the cases were assessed in greater depth through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and multistakeholder workshops. The cases covered a wide diversity of experiences in terms of types, domains, scales, timelines, initiators of innovation and stakeholders involved. Findings revealed multiple triggers and drivers of innovation. For external stakeholders, key triggers included likelihood of offering a technological fix to an existing problem and availability of funding. For local people, access to input and output markets was a powerful...
In the context of the EU-funded JOLISAA (JOint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agricult... more In the context of the EU-funded JOLISAA (JOint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agriculture) project, four local innovation processes involving smallholders in Benin were selected for in-depth assessment: innovation in hwedo agrofishing, integrated soil fertility management (ISFM), rice parboiling and soy value chains. Stakeholders directly involved in the innovation process were interviewed. As alternative to the currently challenged transfer-of-technology model of agricultural research and development (ARD) and in order to develop a framework for process monitoring, this paper presents underlying explanatory/analytical models derived out of lessons learnt from the four case studies, reflecting the main features of and the main drivers behind these innovation processes. The explanatory models are: i) feedback socio-ecological model; ii) pull-and-push innovation-driver model; iii) co-learning and joint selection model; and iv) historical account using the innovation bundle....
Innovation processes may remain unperceived over decades until outcomes become widely visible. Th... more Innovation processes may remain unperceived over decades until outcomes become widely visible. This paper depicts the introduction of soy in Benin and the multiple innovative processes resulting from orchestrated interventions as well as non-orchestrated initiatives among many small-scale food-processing units. Research on this complex innovation process was conducted within the framework of the EU-funded project JOLISAA (JOint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agriculture). An in-depth study was conducted over a six-month period in 2012 by a team of young agronomists supervised by senior scientists, mainly in three areas where soy is now largely produced and locally processed. In addition to smallholders, many of the other stakeholders involved were interviewed: researchers, oil-mill managers and decision-makers. The soybean innovation storyline begins in the late 1970s. Over time, a complex bundle of innovations emerged with many stakeholders engaged from farming communities, the private sector and NGOs. It encompassed small-scale food products such as cheese and mustard as well as industrial oil and feedstuffs. Major innovative products and processes concern soy as a substitute in local food for the poor. The innovation is now rooted in local habits and sustains an informal economy. Many linkages have been developed but few with State agencies. Key stakeholders, particularly farmers and small entrepreneurs, receive little support from agricultural research and development (ARD) organisations. Recognition of this innovation process is a real challenge. This innovation experience illustrates how an innovation process of significant economic importance can remain largely unacknowledged by ARD and State agencies over decades. Trajectories of this innovation process were largely unexpected and could not have been planned at early stages. (Resume d'auteur)
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