PhD Defence

Lanhèzidou Pignan will defend his PhD in front of the following jury:

• Cyrille Ferraton (Université Montpellier 3), referee
• Sonia Tello-Rozas (Université du Québec à Montréal), referee
• Frédéric Fortunel (Le Mans Université), examinator
• Béatrice Plottu (Institut Agro Rennes-Angers), examinator
• Damien Rousselière (Institut Agro Rennes-Angers), supervisor
• Sandrine Stervinou (Audencia), co-supervisor

Abstract

The coffee sector in West Africa faces a dual challenge. On one hand, the exclusive export of green coffee as a cash crop limits the integration of West African coffee farming into the new global coffee value chain. On the other hand, this dynamic hinders the development of a local and sub-regional market. Faced with this dual constraint, partly stemming from the sector's regulation through the lens of the PMGP (minimum guaranteed price to producers), net coffee exports are no longer a sufficient factor to ensure sustainable development of the sector within the West African economic space. To leverage the growth of the global market, it is necessary to adopt a more integrated economic model for West African coffee farming. This thesis explores this path by focusing on the RPCC (Cooperative Coffee Farmers' Patrimonial Responsibility). The valorization of coffee farming heritage in West Africa is based on combining the cooperative model with geographical indication (GI) systems. Together, the organizational tool and the legal-financial lever offer West African coffee farmers the opportunity to contribute to the structuring of a sustainable socio-economic ecosystem around the coffee they produce. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this valorization approach, which aims to protect the interests of coffee farmers by and for themselves, the thesis proposes the creation of an experimental zone. In this context, coffee cooperatives and distributors would collaborate on the development of a potential geographical indication (GI) "Coffees of the Gulf of Guinea."