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This study aims to document the renewal of an import-substitution food policy in Cameroon. It examines how the production of bread flour from local food crops like cassava, plantain and sweet potato can become competitive with imported wheat. This study uses a food chain and cluster analysis framework, coupled with primary and secondary databases and surveys. The results confirm the trend towards wheat imports, with risks on future food sovereignty. However, it will be difficult to focus solely on the objective of substituting imported flour. Domestic production of cassava, plantain and sweet potato still provides little surplus to meet the needs of industrial production of bread flour. Nevertheless, these results confirm the opportunity to develop clusters made up of small processing units that add value to a diversity of local products from tropical starch products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19 calls into question the reconfiguration trajectories of food systems in the Republic of Congo. It questions the extent to which the regulatory measures taken by the public authorities and the adaptation strategies of the actors lead to changes in the structural governance of the country's food system. The article analyses the strategies for adapting to the crisis, by using secondary data and authors' experience of support to public policies in the agricultural and food sector. In Congo, the food sector remains dependent on the outside world and relies on extensive subsistence farming. To manage the pandemic, a general, 'flexible' containment of the population has been applied. Panic buying, reduced market activities and the temporary rise in food prices revealed the fragility of the sector linked to its dependence on international markets. However, the crisis has confirmed the collective innovative capacity of the informal sector. It has restored the recognition of urban agriculture has source of employment for vulnerable populations. It calls into question the design of future agricultural and food policies with regard to the integration of health, food and social risks, in the context of the Congo Forest Basin, which is exposed to the risk of a resurgence of existing zoonoses and emerging diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19 calls into question the reconfiguration trajectories of food systems in the Republic of Congo. It questions the extent to which the regulatory measures taken by the public authorities and the adaptation strategies of the actors lead to changes in the structural governance of the country’s food system. The article analyses the strategies for adapting to the crisis, by using secondary data and authors’ experience of support to public policies in the agricultural and food sector. In Congo, the food sector remains dependent on the outside world and relies on extensive subsistence farming. To manage the pandemic, a general, ’flexible’ containment of the population has been applied. Panic buying, reduced market activities and the temporary rise in food prices revealed the fragility of the sector linked to its dependence on international markets. However, the crisis has confirmed the collective innovative capacity of the informal sector. It has restored the recognition of urban agriculture has source of employment for vulnerable populations. It calls into question the design of future agricultural and food policies with regard to the integration of health, food and social risks, in the context of the Congo Forest Basin, which is exposed to the risk of a resurgence of existing zoonoses and emerging diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context of controversy over the capacity of agricultural models to respond jointly to food, environmental and development issues in Africa, we analyze the conditions of viability of organic farming in Cameroon. The approach mobilizes a survey through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in the organic production sectors and a discussion of the knowledge generated during multi-stakeholder participatory workshops. The approach brings together scientific, entrepreneurial and technical knowledge. The results highlight three types of organic farming: one type certified according to international specifications; the second, hybrid because of its entrepreneurial nature and without certification; and the third, "natural without certification", that refers to traditional practices, with low use of inputs. Using the framework of analysis of the multi-level transition theory, these three types make it possible to define possible trajectories for the evolution of organic agriculture in Cameroon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, renewed societal demands on public research have been structured by various generic issues, while others are specific to the context of developing countries. In the first part of this article, after reviewing those issues, we examine how they reshape the analytical frameworks that structure the understanding of causal relationships between research activities, innovation processes, and the consequences of both for development. We used an impact pathway framework to assess innovation processes by looking at 13 case studies on research in agricultural and food sectors of developing countries. The results show the diversity of outcomes related to human capital, social capital, and knowledge infrastructure. Moreover, they show the systemic interaction between outputs, outcomes, and impacts. Based on this assessment, we demonstrate that the way impact pathways are framed and analysed needs to be improved to better consider the complex interactions between the diverse actors involved in innovation processes. Through a discussion of our results, we propose an analytical framework to help improve impact assessment methods for research activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for technological transition and the context of the privatization of public research funding both challenge the evolution of methods to assess the impact of research in the agricultural and food sectors. We analyze this evolution through a literature review and an examination of a range of case studies on research completed in developing countries. In the first part, the results stemming from the former analysis question the controversies raised by quantitative approaches. In view of these controversies, we then examine the methodological innovations taking place in a qualitative approach. A survey of case studies ultimately helps to characterize the strategic resources that research generates with a view to improving its impact on innovation and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population growth in developing countries sometimes imposes the need to increase agricultural production. A project on phosphate fertilization for rainfed rice in Madagascar was carried out in a participatory way between research actors and farmers to increase yield. However, adoption of the innovation was quickly abandoned by farmers. The ImpresS approach (Impact of Research in the South) was used on this project to assess its impacts by developing a model that meets the conditions for adopting the innovation. Despite the early abandonment of the target fertilizer (mineral phosphorus), the ImpresS approach made it possible to identify processes that led to impacts. The results identify an innovation model in the form of interaction or coproducing of knowledge between the different actors. This interaction builds the capacity of all project stakeholders to change practices or innovate. Indeed, capacity building allows all involved actors to acquire impacts that are new technical and functional capacities. It is deduced from this collective reflections for the development of future projects including a "culture of impact" allowing a better adoption of innovation brought by research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since February 2020, the Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS) and Pesticides Network has contributed to structuring a community of researchers from the humanities and social sciences conducting research on pesticide-related issues. The annual symposium of the network reflects the diversity of approaches on the topic, and enables confronting various disciplinary perspectives and disseminating HSS research to a large audience. We start from the idea that crossing disciplinary views on pesticides allows to better respond to the health, social and environmental challenges they raise. The second symposium, held in May 2021, on which we offer a brief overview in this article, provided a review of HSS research conducted by French researchers and examined three dimensions in greater depth: alternatives to pesticides, social movements around pesticides, and issues of temporality in pesticide governance. The network is beginning to structure itself; it allows a better dissemination of the HSS work on the topic within the research community, but also towards public policymakers and/or the not-for-profit sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, societal pressure has increased on public research agencies to provide evidence that their research contributes to achieve development goals. To address this challenge, the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development (Cirad), developed an ex-post impact assessment method based on the impact pathway approach, called Impact of Research in the South (ImpresS). The reconstruction of the impact pathway identifies and assesses research outputs, outcomes, and impacts on development over long-time spans, taking into account the contribution of other stakeholders, projects, and contextual factors. By applying mixed methods and participatory approaches, ImpresS involves key actors in assessing the contribution of research to impacts in innovation processes. Such a participatory approach raises, however, questions about the advantages and disadvantages of participation in impact assessment. This article examines whether and how participation affects the results of an evaluation and the methodological challenges this poses. The analysis is based on 13 case studies covering different innovation processes, countries, and time spans. The main results show that participation, combined with triangulation of information including quantitative and qualitative data, strengthens the explanation of the causal relationships among outputs, outcomes, and impacts. It helps reveal a large and diversified list of impacts based on the perception of actors, especially uncovering positive and negative impacts unexpected by researchers. However, participation may render other impacts less visible, especially those related to environmental and political issues. Furthermore, participatory evaluation entangles challenges linked to expectations, divergent perceptions, power dynamics, and social inequality, which must be carefully addressed to provide robust and transparent evaluation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context of a severe funding crisis, donors and policymakers expect increased accountability from research organizations and convincing proof that public investments in research have significant and positive societal impacts. This article takes stock of the lessons learned from the use of a method (ImpresS) designed by CIRAD to analyze the impact of research undertaken in partnership with a range of different actors in a developing-country context. The method uses a case study approach, and relies on the evaluation of the impact pathway and on contribution analysis. Thirteen case studies were selected to represent the diversity of partnerships, research activities and types of innovation. The results confirm the diversity and complexity of the innovation processes encompassing the non-linearity of changes over extended periods, the diversity of impacts, the shifting roles of actors engaged in the innovation process, and the diversity of activities carried out by the research community to contribute to outcome and impact generation. Interactions between researchers and other actors throughout the innovation process appeared to play key roles along the impact pathway. Based on the 13 case studies, we identified four generic models through which research contributes to impact: participatory transfer of knowledge and technologies, co-design of innovation, support for the innovation process, and promotion of open innovation. Our results underline the need for research institutions to recognize and accept the diversity of functions fulfilled by researchers if they want to contribute in an effective manner to the generation of impacts. Another challenge is to learn how to take advantage of clusters of projects embedded in innovation pathways in order to sustain research activities over a long timeframe. Significance statement Impact evaluation is increasingly being requested from the research community as a measure of accountability by both donors and civil society. Conducting it properly is challenging, especially in the context of developing countries. Quantitative studies are often biased toward expected and tangible impacts. Complementary qualitative approaches are focused on understanding causality and are more in line with the actors' participation in impact evaluation. CIRAD has developed a method and used it to assess 13 case studies involving research conducted in partnership in widely differing environments. Some main lessons learned include the long timeframe needed for impacts to be achieved, the diversity of impacts the research community needs to consider, and the multiple roles played by the research community in co-developing outcomes with diverse stakeholders. Results show that the research community can contribute to impacts by using several models of intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ex post analysis of the impact of research projects related to Participatory Breeding (PB) of sorghum in Burkina Faso was carried out in 2015 and 2016 using the "Impress" method developed by CIRAD. The sorghum PB approach emerged in Burkina Faso in the late 1990s as a response to the very low adoption of improved varieties released by the conventional breeding program. This approach represents a paradigm shift from a research approach focused solely on the development of "high-yielding varieties", irrespective of the social context in which these varieties are to be used, towards the development of varieties, seed and their dissemination within a multi-stakeholder framework. The present study aims to assess the impact of the sorghum PB program and the activities related to seed production and dissemination carried out in Burkina Faso over a period of 20 years. Detailed mappings of the timeline and the actors that have been involved in the innovation process, as well as the impact pathway, have been established. The causal relationships between outputs, outcomes and impacts have been developed on the basis of 67 impact descriptors provided by research partners and beneficiaries during participatory workshops. Around thirty measurable impact indicators were assessed by means of individual or focus-group interviews and by means of secondary data sources. The three major outputs of the study were: the new improved varieties (IV) resulting from the PB actions; the mini-pack seed strategy; and the new skills acquired by the farmer organizations regarding sorghum improvement and certified seed production. The appropriation of these outputs by the farmer organizations not only brought structure to the experimentation networks, but also ensured the promotion and dissemination of the new varieties, and the establishment of a decentralised certified seed production scheme. One major positive impact was the significant increase in the use of sorghum IVs not only in the villages covered by the program but also in neighbouring areas. The expansion and performance of these new IVs has helped reduce the hunger gap while increasing the revenues of farmers involved in seed production. Furthermore, the research projects helped bring structure to the national seed sector as well as to the certified seed market, where the farmer seed production Unions consolidated by the PB projects now play an important role in the orientation of national legislation. The experimental method of impact assessment used in this analysis explores and makes visible the complex multidimensional and multi-stakeholder processes that have helped shape technological innovation and its impact on development. Such impact assessments can also elucidate the role of research in reinforcing the individual and collective capacities needed for innovating and testing out new technologies, that is, new varieties and seed production practices according to local constraints and/or opportunities. • Timeline established with complex multidimensional, multi-stakeholder processes. • Thirty measurable indicators assessed via secondary data sources and surveys. • A collaborative experimental system established between researchers and farmers. • Outputs and outcomes are related to varieties, seed access and capacity building. • Impacts mainly on variety adoption and productivity, formal seed system, wellbeing [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]