PurposeThis study explores the reasons for the unrealised potential of digital agro-advisory services in developing countries by analysing the difficulties encountered by advisory service providers who are digitalising their services.Design/Methodology/ApproachWe used a multidimensional model of service innovation to examine the changes that occurred in the advisory system as it underwent digitalisation and the manner in which a Burkinabe farmer organisation and their partners coped with these transformations. This model includes six dimensions that can be transformed during the service innovation process: the service concept, interactions with users, the partner network, the revenue model, the organisational delivery system, and the technological delivery system.FindingsThis study shows that the farmer organisation did not anticipate the multiple transformations implied by the digitalisation process. This had detrimental effects for the farmer organisation, including the disruption of its day-to-day activities, difficulties in ensuring the economic viability of the new digital advisory service, and an evolution of the advisory approach towards top-down supervision.Practical ImplicationsThis article highlights six dynamic capabilities that are essential for advisory service providers to successfully manage the development of a digital farm advisory service.Theoretical ImplicationsUsing a holistic model of service innovation is instrumental in comprehending the failures encountered by organisations developing digital agro-advisory services.Originality/ValueThis article adopts a new perspective to understand the failures of digital advisory services: the capabilities of advisory providers to holistically manage the digitalisation of their service.

To promote greater sustainability in agriculture, development of agroecology is increasingly being invoked. What are the conditions for establishing agroecological production in tropical regions? Based upon case studies in several tropical areas, we provide here some answers to this question. We review the "pillars" (i.e. principles) and the "implementation levers" (i.e., tools) for the development of agroecology. We identify three main pillars: (1) the mobilization and management of ecological processes for the sustainable production and the resilience of agroecosystems; (2) the development of interactions between technical, social, environmental, and institutional components of agroecosystems for a holistic approach to agroecology; and (3) the scaling up of agroecology that takes place with a plurality of actions and pathways at different organization levels rather than an increase in resources and a replication of standardized technical processes. To implement these three pillars, we identify 11 main bio-technical, cognitive, socio-political, and organizational levers. Bio-technical levers include those for (1) mobilizing complementarity between crop species to optimize natural resources use, (2) mobilizing functional biodiversity at the plot scale to optimize natural regulation of pests and diseases, (3) managing biodiversity at landscape and territorial scales, (4) increasing the efficiency of biogeochemical cycles, and (5) renewing targets for genetic improvement. Cognitive, socio-political, and organizational levers include those for (6) political and institutional action at the national and global level, (7) action at the local level to support producers, (8) political and organizational action at the territorial level, (9) the marketing and the development of new agri-chains, (10) the development of new methods for evaluating production systems, and (11) the recognition of the values of gender and generation within families and other organisational levels. This paper provides an overall orientation for the agroecological transition in tropical agriculture and also considers the socio-political context that underlies this transition.

Agroecology has been recognized as a paradigm that can offer multiple ecological and socio-economic benefits. In many developing countries, the promotion of agroecology is facilitated by intermediary organizations such as Farmers’ Organizations (FOs). Detailed studies on how FOs support their farmers in the adoption of agroecology innovations are still scarce, and particularly there are limited studies on the roles of FOs in this realm in Africa. This paper addresses this gap by presenting a study on how FOs stimulate farmers’ adoption of agroecological innovations in Burkina Faso. Three case studies of FOs were done to unravel the ways FOs support of farmers’ adoption of agroecological innovations processes, using the lens of innovation intermediaries. The findings show that FOs fulfil both knowledge and innovation intermediation functions in the process of stimulating their farmers’ adoption of agroecological innovations. By doing this, FOs act as a facilitator for the introduction and/or development of complementary agroecological innovations over longer periods of time. Future studies could look more deeply into how intermediation may contribute to broader transitions and how it connects with the political activities of FOs such as advocacy and lobbying.

Purpose: This article explores to what extent a Delphi consensus study can help in designing a framework for assessing agricultural innovation systems (AIS), and this in a perspective of transformation of these systems in a diversity of countries. Approach: First, we reviewed the diversity of existing assessment methodologies in terms of their assessment rationales and associated epistemological and methodological debates. Second, we facilitated a process of framework design through an adapted group-based Delphi technique that we developed, based on an expert dialogue format with an initial online survey and six rounds of enriched controlled feedback. Findings: The adapted Delphi process appears to be effective since experts reached a consensus on a capacity-oriented assessment model with standardized and flexible components. Dissenting views remained but were suggested as a basis for further research, with a focus on the nature and use of high-level indicators and on ways facilitating the use of evidence by decision-makers in a capacity development perspective. Several factors that triggered and hindered consensus building during the Delphi process were detected. Practical implications: A number of lessons were drawn to enhance participation and consensus in further Delphi studies applied to framework design. Theoretical implications: Our study underscores the different worldviews on transformation and assessment of AIS. It opens the way for the use of group-based Delphi studies to initiate the co-production of knowledge on AIS science at the international level. Originality: The value of Delphi studies in addressing framework design issues has been little explored so far.

Mediante un estudio de caso, este articulo utiliza el concepto de orquestacion de redes para examinar el papel de los exportadores en la implantacion de la certificacion voluntaria del cacao en Costa de Marfil. Para ello, se recopilaron datos a partir de revisiones bibliograficas, encuestas a dos exportadores y veinte cooperativas. Se utilizan la matriz de relaciones entre agentes, el mapa de relaciones entre agentes y el analisis del discurso para comprender el papel de los exportadores en la certificacion del cacao en Costa de Marfil. Los resultados muestran que los exportadores no solo participan en la construccion de una red de agentes en torno a la implantacion de la certificacion del cacao, sino que, sobre todo, orientan la red para facilitar dicha implantacion mediante la participacion activa en la movilidad de conocimientos y recursos financieros dentro de la red y la gestion del proceso de certificacion. Sin embargo, aunque los exportadores desempenan un papel clave en la implantacion de las certificaciones voluntarias, su funcion como organizadores de la red supone un dilema. De hecho, utilizan dicha posicion para controlar las ventas de cacao certificado de las cooperativas y su prima. Codigos JEL: O350, Q55

L'objectif de cet article est d'analyser le fonctionnement des services de conseil agricole dans la certification du cacao. Le cadre conceptuel mobilisé combine les apports des systèmes d'innovation et de l'économie des services. La méthodologie est basée sur une étude de cas des programmes de certification de deux importants exportateurs de la chaîne d'approvisionnement de cacao en Côte d'Ivoire. Les résultats relèvent que les services de conseil sont des dispositifs pluri-acteurs pilotés par les exportateurs grâce aux mécanismes de financement. Ils orientent à la fois des activités de front-office et de back-office des services de conseil, en fonction de leurs objectifs. Ces choix impactent les compétences des conseillers des coopératives, le contenu et la qualité du conseil. Les résultats soulignent les difficultés à apporter des changements dans le fonctionnement des dispositifs de conseil à cause de la faiblesse des coopératives. À partir de cette analyse, des enseignements sont tirés pour l'appui à des dispositifs de conseil de ce type.

Purpose This study investigated the impact of privatization of advisory services on the quality of the services.Design/methodology/approach The front- and back-office dimensions of advisory activities were analyzed through interviews with 43 advisers involved in the advisory services provided as part of a cocoa exporter's certification program.Findings Our results showed that the ratio of advisors per producer in the private advisory system is too high, and the means of transport for advisors are inadequate. The training received by the advisors is strongly oriented towards mastering technical subjects related to certification requirements, while soft or process topics that would provide them with knowledge and skills required to co-produce with farmers is neglected. Regarding the front office dimension, advice to cocoa producers is largely prescriptive and fails to co-produce knowledge that is relevant to their needs.Practical implications The study produced empirical data that allows us to go beyond the theoretical farm advice approach derived from micro-economic modeling.Theoretical implications Our findings weaken the arguments in favor of privatization of farm advisory services.Originality/value The study provides insights into the consequence of privatizing farm advisory services in the West Africa context by producing one of the first study on this subject in Côte d'Ivoire.

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 expost 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.

Using a case study, this article uses the concept of network orchestration to examine the role of exporters in the implementation of voluntary cocoa certification in Cote d'Ivoire. To this end, data were collected from literature reviews, surveys of two exporters, and 20 cooperatives. Actor linkage matrix, actor linkage map and discourse analysis are used to understand the role of exporters in cocoa certification in Cote d'Ivoire. The findings show that exporters not only participate in the construction of a network of actors around the implementation of cocoa certification, but above all they pilot the network to facilitate certification implementation by actively participating in the mobility of knowledge and financial resources within the network and managing the certification process. However, although exporters play a key role in the implementation of voluntary certifications, their role as network orchestrator is dilemmatic. Indeed, they use their position as orchestrator to control sales of cooperatives' certified cocoa and their premium.

Démarche pour co-construire ex ante les chemins d'impact de la recherche pour le développement Tout ce que vous avez toujours voulu savoir sur la démarche ImpresS ex ante (FAQ / questions les plus fréquemment posées) Ça ne me concerne pas, j'ai déjà mes work packages…Même si idéalement la démarche ImpresS ex ante est menée depuis l'initiation de la réflexion pour structurer l'intervention, l'approche est adaptative, et peut être mobilisée à différentes étapes de la formulation de l'intervention (de l'idée de l'intervention à une intervention déjà bien structurée) (Chapitre 5.2.2).Le chemin d'impact de l'intervention peut être reconstruit en aval de la réflexion sur les work packages : la mobilisation de la démarche permettra alors peut-être moins d'explorer l'ensemble des possibles, mais permettra de revoir la logique globale, la cohérence entre les moyens et stratégies avec les objectifs affichés, d'identifier des dimensions ou obstacles ayant été négligés, … 6. Je mobilise déjà l'approche du cadre logique, et c'est bien suffisant… Cette démarche permet de formuler la logique d'intervention, qui peut ensuite être traduite dans différents outils d'ingénierie de projet et support de formalisation (cadre logique, notes conceptuelles, …) (Chapitre 5).ImpresS ex ante est donc complémentaire des outils d'ingénierie de projet, mais permet d'orienter le pilotage de l'intervention, et représente plus un processus qu'une étape ponctuelle ou qu'un produit.7. Moi je veux mobiliser ImpresS ex ante pour faire de l'évaluation d'impact ex ante… La démarche ImpresS ex ante n'est pas une méthode d'évaluation d'impact ex ante avec laquelle on quantifierait des impacts potentiels, mais une démarche pour co-construire une logique d'intervention en partant des impacts visés, avec une analyse systémique du contexte d'intervention.8. ImpresS ex ante et la prospective, c'est la même chose… Les approches d'anticipation, comme la co-élaboration participative de scenario (CPS) développée au Cirad, ne sont pas la même chose que la démarche ImpresS ex ante.Les approches d'anticipation proposent d'explorer le futur pour éclairer le présent, alors qu'ImpresS ex ante permet de planifier stratégiquement une intervention en partant d'une vision du futur souhaitable comme objectif.Ces deux approches sont toutefois très complémentaires, et un travail méthodologique est en cours pour tester leurs articulations possibles (Encadré 2).

Applied agricultural research institutes play different roles in complex agricultural innovation processes, contributing to them with other actors. To foster learning and usable knowledge on how research actions influence such lasting innovation processes, there is a need to identify the causal mechanisms linking these actions and the effects of the changes they enable. A participatory, theory‐driven, ex‐post evaluation method, ImpresS, was developed by the French Agricultural Research Center for International Development (Cirad). ImpresS reconstructs the innovation history and its impact pathway by analyzing behavioral mechanisms linked to stakeholders' individual reactions and responses, and underlying process mechanisms at a group level. ImpresS relies on iterative updating and refinement and on triangulating data sources and collection methods to ensure internal validity and to increase credibility by enabling different actors to express their viewpoints. Drawing on an in‐depth case study, we discuss how ImpresS makes it possible to draw robust conclusions on causal mechanisms while posing challenges linked to the group dynamics and power imbalances commonly encountered in participatory methods. As demonstrated by the case study, ImpresS generates policy‐relevant knowledge for future research projects. It also demonstrates how research actions can help coconstruct lasting dynamics that can survive fluctuating institutional support. Distinguishing between behavioral and process mechanisms benefits knowledge use as it makes it possible to disentangle the conditions that trigger changes in a given context while generating research questions concerning the external validity of mechanism hypotheses.

La nueva politica agricola de la UE pretende reforzar la capacidad de innovacion de los agentes teniendo en cuenta la complejidad de los procesos de innovacion. Este documento describe los principales servicios de apoyo a la innovacion (SAI) que respaldan a los diversos agentes en sus iniciativas innovadoras. En el proyecto AgriSpin de la UE, analizamos cincuenta y siete estudios de casos que describen procesos de innovacion. Utilizamos un modelo de analisis comun para caracterizar los SAI. Nuestros resultados muestran que los SAI dependen de la fase de la innovacion. Durante las fases iniciales se necesitan servicios de apoyo a la innovacion (por ejemplo, creacion de redes, apoyo al innovador). En las ultimas fases se necesitan servicios mas convencionales (por ejemplo, formacion, credito) en las explotaciones, la cadena de valor y a nivel territorial. Las funciones de intermediacion y los nuevos servicios son fundamentales para ayudar a los agentes a innovar, al facilitar las interacciones para la generacion conjunta de conocimientos, el codiseno de tecnologias y la identificacion de nuevos acuerdos institucionales. Codigos JEL: Q10, O31, O32, O33, O35, O52

The new EU agricultural policy aims to strengthen actors’ capacities for innovation by taking into account the complexity of innovation processes. This paper characterizes the key innovation support services (ISS) that support actors in innovating. In the EU AgriSpin project, we analyzed 57 case studies describing innovation processes. We used a common grid to characterize ISS. Our results show that ISS depends on the phase of the innovation. During the initial phases, there is a need for innovative support services (e.g. network building, support for the innovator). In the latter phases, there is a need for more conventional services (e.g. training, credit) at farm, value chain and territory level. Brokering functions and new services are key to supporting actors to innovate by facilitating interactions for the co-production of knowledge, co-design of technologies, and identification of new institutional arrangements. JEL Codes: Q10, O31, O32, O33, O35, O52