[Defended thesis] Felly Cadeau Rushigira: The model of agriculture revisited in the Ruzizi Plain in the DRC: What place for New Information and Communication Technologies in the rice value chain?

The model of agriculture revisited in the Ruzizi Plain in the DRC: What place for New Information and Communication Technologies in the rice value chain?

My name is Cadeau Rushigira Felly, and I'm a PhD student at Montpellier Supagro, attached to the "Innovation" (Innovation and Development in Agriculture and Food) and "Tetis" (Territory, Environment, Remote Sensing, Spatial Information) joint research units.  I'm interested in the role of ICTs in the governance of agricultural value chains. I'm an agro-economist, with a master's degree in rural economics from UEA/Bukavu (RDCongo). I also hold a master's degree in "development, environment and society" from the Université catholique de Louvain - Uliège in Belgium.

In approaching this doctoral research, I start from the hypotheses that information influences the choice and decision-making of economic agents, and that the possession of information by certain actors reinforces the asymmetry of power. Similarly, in the context of the Ruzizi Plain, the use of NICTs in the rice value chain can only develop if the actors are accompanied right through to the appropriation phase, and if the NICTs are consistent with the actors' profiles and the resources to which they have easy access.
I chose to do this thesis because I believe it is one of the ways of improving the performance of the agricultural sector, which is the source of income for around 80% of the population in developing countries.

• Starting date:  April 2019
• University: Institut Agro
• PhD school:  EDEG Montpellier
• Scientific field:  Management sciences
• Thesis management: Guy Faure (Cirad – UMR Innovation)
• Thesis supervisors: Patricio Mendez Del Villar (Cirad, Tetis), Nicolas Paget (Cirad, Innovation) & Furaha Mirindi Germaine (Rikolto)
• Funding: AUF – UEA
• #DigitAg : Labeled thesis – Challenges 7 & 8 – Axe 2

Keywords: Digital, Governance, Information system, Value chain, Rice, Ruzizi Plain

Abstract: Agriculture remains a priority sector for taking off the economies of developing countries (Banque Mondiale, 2008). Several studies have demonstrated this evidence for the case of the DRC where, not only more than 80% of the population practices agriculture, but also land availability (75 million hectares of cultivable land), hydrographic (estimated irrigation potential to 4 million hectares) and soil and climate conditions, offer the possibility of developing chains of diversified values with the possibility of several harvests per year (Lebailly, Michel, & Ntoto, 2014; Ministère de l’agriculture et du développement rural - RDC, 2013; Chausse, Kembola, & Ngonde, 2012; BAD, 2010; Baku, 2009; Ministère de l’agriculture Pêche et élevage - RDC, 2009). This context is similar to that of the Ruzizi Plain, which is an important agricultural area, not only for the DRC, but for the entire sub-region (DRC, Rwanda and Burundi) in general. Indeed, rice is one of the priority crops in the region because it is favored by natural conditions and its importance continues to be confirmed from the point of view of dietary habits on the one hand and on the other hand by its importance in the income generation of the peasants. Paradoxically, it should be noted that out of 37,721 ha of rice potential recognized in the Ruzizi Plain, only 30% is exploited and causes indeed, import dependency rates not insignificant for these three countries (22.3% for the Burundi, 25.7% for the DRC with about 82% for the province of South Kivu, and 38.2% for Rwanda). However, the configuration of this zone, that is to say the distance separating the production zone to the consumption zone being large, while the road infrastructures which constitute the only transport route are in disrepair especially on the side of the DRC, communication and the circulation of useful information between actors along this value chain becomes difficult and this reinforces the asymmetry of information. Faced with this problem, the Department of Rural Economy at the Evangelical University in Africa of Bukavu DRC, designed a project to introduce ICT tools in the rice value chain in the Ruzizi Plain. This thesis through a careful analysis of useful in the value chain of rice in the Ruzizi Plain and the conditions of use of this information by the actors, will allow elucidate the appropriate ICT transmission channels according to the actors concerned in order to increase the chances of adoptability of these tools, on the assumption that the existence of information asymmetry, the usefulness of information and the ability to use this information is at the heart of ICT adoption mechanisms. Thus, this thesis will lead to a methodology for co-designing ICT tools for transmitting useful information that can be used by actors in an agricultural value chain. The thesis will also analyze the conditions under which the use of NTIC tools will fill the real need felt by the actors in terms of information so that they constitute real innovations. The thesis will also examine the positioning of this ICT-based model in the existing innovation system in the study area, to see to what extent the interactions (between organizations, institutions, actors) can favor innovations.

Jury compound:

• M. Guy FAURE, CIRAD, Directeur de thèse
• M. Philippe LEBAILLY, Université de Liège, Rapporteur
• Mme Vanessa CASADELLA, Université de Picardie Jules Vernes, Rapporteur
• M. Pierre MAUREL, INRAE, Examinateur
• Mme Germaine FURAHA MIRINDI UEA Bukavu (Université Evangélique en Afrique), Invitée
• M. Patricio MENDEZ DEL VILLAR CIRAD, Invité