The Family Economy and Agricultural Innovation in West Africa

This report sets out the synthesis of work carried out within the framework of the Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC) Secretariat Initiative on “The family economy and agricultural innovation: towards new partnerships”. The initiative aimed to stimulate analyses, collect field data and case studies that encourage debates between regional actors, with a view to informing the development of regional policies and actions in order to promote and strengthen producer access to agricultural innovation, where most producers are anchored in the family economy. In particular, the report summarizes the results of the following activities:
(i) An electronic consultation carried out from December 2003 to March 2004 with key regional and international actors; (ii) Field work undertaken in four West African countries: Burkina Faso, the Gambia, Ghana and Mali; (iii) A regional strategic thinking workshop on access to innovation organised in June 2004 by the SWAC Secretariat in collaboration with the WAEMU.