"I would like my research to promote sustainable agricultural practices".

To mark International Women's Day, the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) is showcasing a series of portraits and interviews with inspiring, committed women from the French-speaking world. Discover the three-question interview with Faridah Dosso, a researcher at the University of Parakou (Benin), who has just been awarded the Prix Bonus RRI by the AUF in 2024.

The RRI Bonus Prize has been awarded to you for your ability to combine research and practical applications in the service of sustainable development. Vur research is based on an ethnographic survey and interviews with farmers. Tell us about this research.

My research project focuses on endogenous [internal, editor's note] mechanisms for storing and disseminating agricultural innovations for the sustainable management of natural resources. It aims to understand how farmers conserve, transmit and use agricultural innovations received in the past to improve soil fertility and agricultural productivity in a context of climate change.

It is based on the observation that certain agricultural practices disseminated to farmers are not immediately adopted, but can be stored and then reintroduced years later in response to new environmental and economic challenges. The study therefore seeks to analyze the social dynamics involved in this process of sharing and disseminating innovations.

My research field is located in the central part of the Republic of Benin in West Africa, an area severely affected by climate change, soil degradation and declining soil fertility. My methodological approach is essentially qualitative, based on an ethnographic survey involving field observations and interviews with farmers and other stakeholders involved in land management.

What impact do you hope your work will have on local communities?

With this research, I hope to enable farmers to optimize the use and transmission of agricultural innovations so that they are adapted to local realities. The expected results of this research will identify the levers that encourage the storage and dissemination of agricultural innovations, model these processes, and propose principles to strengthen farmers' ability to share and adopt sustainable practices.

Passionate about the issues of innovation and sustainability, I hope that my research will have a concrete impact by proposing strategies adapted to the realities of producers and promoting more resilient and sustainable agricultural systems in the face of climate change.

What prompted you to choose this subject?

This research idea was born during my doctoral research. I realized that many innovations come not only from research institutions or NGOs, but also from farmers themselves, who experiment, adapt and pass on knowledge from generation to generation. It was through observing farmers' practices that my desire to promote local knowledge was born.