Ludovic Temple

Organizational determinant of technological innovation in food agriculture and impacts on sustainable development

The food security challenges faced by populations in sub-Saharan Africa and the fact that extensive production systems are reaching their limits in the food-producing agricultural chain have increased the need to accelerate technological innovation toward the ecological intensification of agricultural production systems. Here, a review of the research conducted on plantain bananas (Musa paradisiaca) in Cameroon since 1988 revealed how institutional innovation has enabled the hybridization of different research forms—such as fundamental, systems, and action research—and reinforced the organizational innovation required for technical change. We found that impact evaluation underlined the complementarity between the increases in productivity and income in rural areas, as well as the production of human and social capital and the protection of forest resources.

Participatory determinants of innovation and their impact on plantain production systems in Cameroon

Current statistics question the capacity of food-crop production to meet the challenges of food security in Central Africa. However, for local food crops like plantain, the potential for improving productivity is very high. In response to this challenge, after identification of the most serious constraints, an interdisciplinary team used participatory research and action-research tools to try and speed up the adoption of technical innovation by farmers. The project began in 1990 in South-West Province and subsequently expanded to include 100 plantain producers and 60 extension technicians in the Central and Southern Provinces of Cameroon. The approach used produced satisfactory results as far as the adoption and dissemination of methods of multiplication and cleaning of planting material were concerned but there was resistance to new cropping practices involving intercrops and crop rotation. The project resulted in major technical changes in plantain production systems in Cameroon that not only increased productivity and food security but also reduced deforestation showing that sustainable intensification is possible in sub-Saharan Africa.