L’innovation agricole au Rwanda : des acteurs déconnectés

par Sophie T’Kint, Julie Van Damme et Philippe V. Baret

Paru dans l’Annuaire des Grands Lacs (2013)

version pdf : TKint et al. – 2013 – L’innovation agricole au Rwanda_VD

Agricultural innovation benefits from a considerable investment in Rwanda. The national policies make the agricultural development a priority. Many actors are actively involved in intensifying and professionalizing the agriculture.

However, the impact of innovation is limited in the field. The agricultural development and the farmers’ living conditions have not been substantially improved. To understand this limitation, this study focuses on the different actors who are structured around the agricultural innovation in Rwanda. It aims at (i) establishing a systemic diagnosis of the innovation network and (ii) determining the level at which the innovation process is blocked up and the reasons for this situation.

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews of 24 banana producers and 21 institutions. Their analysis shows that the discontinuity of the innovation process is located at the interface between the meso and micro level of the network. In spite of the good will of all the actors, the linkage between institutions and farmers is unsuccessful: their expectations differ and are unsatisfied.

In line with many debates on the implementation and the use of the agronomic research in developing countries, it is important to better understand the relationship between advisors and farmers. This understanding is a key element to the development of extension approaches that best fit the situation under consideration and highlight the diversity of knowledge