Supporting agricultural innovation in Madagascar: how do organizations operate? A comparative analysis of their theories of change[Accompagner l'innovation agricole à Madagascar, comment les organisations interviennent ? Analyse comparative de leurs théories de changement]

In Madagascar, a wide range of organizations are developing innovation support model. Designed around a theory of change, these mechanisms aim to generate changes through a sequence of interventions or innovation support services (ISS). Impacts production constitutes one of the main expectations of these organizations as well as a central criterion for their evaluation. The effective use of theories of change therefore emerges as a key lever for steering and improving actions to support agricultural innovation. However, few studies have examined the links between the causal structuring of ISS and the effective generation of long-terme change. This paper explores how organizations 2 produce changes in relation to their agricultural innovations support services. Five models, deployed across five distinct regions of Madagascar, are analyzed, reflecting a diversity of contexts, implementing organizations, and innovation situations. Semi-structured interviews with the implementing organizations were conducted to reconstruct their theories of change. The results reveal both regularities and specificities in the ways organizations perceive and pursue change. The regularities mainly concern the interdependent sequence of intermediate changes pursued, regardless of the ultimate objectives. These changes are generated through a diversity of ISS. Technical changes, for instance, are produced not only through technical advice and support services but also through other types of services that complement the diverse needs of innovation producers. Action aiming at institutional change are positioned in later stages of the process, thereby expanding the scope of transformations initiated locally. The type of implementing organization as well as the presence or absence of intermediary beneficiaries appear specific to each theory of change. The identified causal assumptions and external factors largely relate to the capacities of the different actors involved in the model, from implementing organizations to final beneficiaries, including intermediaries who help consolidate change. In perspective, this paper provides new insights to guide organizations in steering and improving their interventions to foster sustainable change accross multiple scales.