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

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.