Abstract
The creation of public organizations and associations focused on a particular agricultural commodity has been a characteristic feature of colonial development. This type of organization continued to exist after the independence of former colonies, without any great disruption, especially in the countries of francophone Africa. It was only in the 1980s that liberalization policies led to major changes and upheavals. The current popularity of public-private partnerships, however, has opened up new perspectives.This chapter first covers the history of these commodity based organizations before briefly describing the far-reaching reconfiguration of agriculture in the wake of liberalization policies implemented over the last 30 years.
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Notes
- 1.
We avoid the use of the terms ‘supply chain’ or ‘value chain’, or their equivalent in the French language (filière), in this chapter since they appeared only in the second half of the 20th century.
- 2.
Côte d’Ivoire: 1 tonne for 4 to France; Madagascar: 1 for 5; Cameroon and Guinea: 1 for 6.
- 3.
IFC began its research activities at the Collège de France, and in 1939 bought a building at 42 rue Scheffer, which is where the headquarters of CIRAD’s general directorate are still located.
- 4.
The International Rubber Research Board and the International Rubber Development Committee merged in 1960 to form the International Rubber Research and Development Board (IRRDB) which exists to this day.
- 5.
This agreement was specifically perceived by the French government as a substitute for the protection previously accorded as part of the empire.
- 6.
However, we must qualify our remarks on the absence of disruptions when decolonization took place by noting that the French military defeat in Vietnam, followed by the break with Guinea, obviously did have serious consequences. They led to a redeployment of some of the French plantations present in these two countries to the Côte d’Ivoire and, of a few, to Cameroon. The break with Guinea also resulted in the loss of IFAC’s main research station.
- 7.
As A. Sawadogo, Minister of Agriculture from 1966 to 1977, noted: ‘(...) the new agricultural development policy, characterized by a withdrawal of the public administration, the creation of State corporations and the establishment of specific channels for transfer of scientific knowledge from the research institute to the farmer (...)’ (Sawadogo 1977, p. 97). ‘(...) The choice has been made in favour of an agricultural development supported by the results of agricultural research, (it) consists of taking stock of the opportunities offered by institutes in the country’ (Ibid., p. 227).
- 8.
This ownership was maintained until 1984 and then transferred to the Ivorian government. The institutes, however, retained their names and CIRAD was entrusted with their management until 1991.
- 9.
The Institute of Tropical Agricultural Research (Institut de recherches agronomiques tropicales, IRAT) was established after independence in 1960 when it inherited the research stations of colonial agricultural services. Like them, it was focused mainly on ‘food’ crops.
- 10.
The length of tenure of a number of personalities within these institutions reflects this remarkable continuity. René Carrière de Belgarric retained his position as Director of the IRHO from 1941 to 1972 before becoming its president until 1975. Edouard Senn, president of UCEF since 1940, remained the President of IRCT until 1974.
- 11.
This proliferation of new projects in Africa was not without impacts on the French system. One of many examples was the creation, in the early 1970s, of SOMDIAA (Société d’Organisation de Management et de Développement des Industries Alimentaires et Agricoles), the multinational corporation for the development of food and agricultural industries, set up with the objective of coordinating the interventions in Africa of a major French miller, Grand Moulins de Paris, and a major bank, BNP Parisbas. SOMDIAA also played a role in the management of a number of development companies mentioned above.
- 12.
The fall in prices was felt only with some delay in francophone African countries due to the appreciation of the US dollar in the early 1980s. Thus, it was only after 1986 that the export earnings of the countries using the French franc began to fall.
- 13.
A monopsony is a market structure in which only one buyer interacts with many would-be sellers of a particular product.
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Daviron, B., Sarraut-Woods, J. (2017). History of Public Organizations and Associations Specializing in a Single Agricultural Commodity and Related to Francophone Africa. In: Biénabe, E., Rival, A., Loeillet, D. (eds) Sustainable Development and Tropical Agri-chains. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1016-7_3
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