Institutional Innovations For Organic Agriculture In Africa

What are the main drivers and bottlenecks that shape the development of the organic sector in Africa? Which factors can support an organic transition in Africa? In this paper, we hypothesize that in order to scale up organic agriculture, food system actors must engage not only in technological innovations in production and processing, but also in institutional innovations. A change in scale means here an increased geographical presence and organizational capacity, distributed and autonomous activities, and a strong movement to share experiences across Africa. By institutional innovations, we mean new rules of exchange for fair and inclusive markets, new technologies and practices to guarantee organic quality, and innovative public policies. Based on three national cases (Uganda, Tanzania, Morocco), we propose a methodology to explore the potential synergies among these three types of institutional innovations.