Analysis of the Commercial Integration Between Agricultural and Agri-food Industries Sectors in C？te d'Ivoire

According to economic theory, when branches of the agricultural sector and of Agri-Food Industries (AFIs) are strongly integrated, this has the advantage of increasing ripple effect, thereby positively impacting the development of the agricultural sector. Our goal, was to appreciate the degree of integration of the agriculture and AFIs sectors in C？te d’Ivoire. We used the Leontief model as methodology, with the Ivorian economy’s 2013 Supply-Use Table data. This study shows that: The amount of agricultural product, sold to AFIs is estimated at 22.82% of agricultural gross production (AGDP), which represents 38.13% of AFI's intermediate consumption; while the AFIs to Agriculture sales represent only 2.79% of the Agriculture branch’s consumption. This reflects the fact that, the branches of the agricultural sector and of AFIs are poorly integrated. In addition, the weak relationship between them is unilateral in an Agriculture to AFI direction. Any innovation in any of the branches of this AFC will have minor effect on the mutation of the other branches. The weak integration between agriculture and agro-food industry is due to incoherent policies in C？te d'Ivoire, where, for a long time, processing of food agriculture has not been a big concern despite significant post-harvest losses in the sector, and due also to the inappropriate conditions for the emergence of an endogenous industrial fabric. In the light of our results, we made the following suggestions. The Government should develop policies that are consistent with each other, and work towards a healthy business climate. We also suggest encouraging and attracting donors to develop Agri-Food Industry, entrepreneurship and agribusiness. The Government should stimulate and promote a sound integration of training and research institutions with the business world. The Government will need to work towards a technical and financial support program for SMEs. Finally, we suggest the development of research on imported or local products