Syndhia Mathé

Innovation Platforms as a Tool to Support Technological Change in the Agri-Food Sector in Developing Countries: A Case Study of the Plantain Value Chain in Côte d'Ivoire

Since 2011, innovation policies in the agri-food sector in Cote dIvoire have been based on designing a technology transfer mechanism named innovation platforms in order to introduce improved plant varieties and hybrids. This chapter particularly focuses on the implications of plantain innovation platforms (PIP) in the reorientation of local technology choices in order to ensure national food security through increased domestic food product supplies. We use the conceptual framework of the sectoral innovation system (SIS). This framework helps to characterize the functioning of the PIPs. We identified four components that structure sociotechnological innovations: research, intermediation, value chain (VC) and financing. Our results show that PIPs help to structure SIS by influencing the public policy decision process (research and innovation) in the selection of cultivars to be introduced, the cultural practices and also the food preferences, thus integrating the geographic diversity of recipients of these innovations in this developing country. These policy changes involve considering the needs of local producers and consumers for choosing plants and new technical processes. The future of these PIPs is thereby questioned.