Occupying 2/3 of the active population, the agricultural sector represents 25% of national GDP and provides 20% of export earnings. However, the sector remains confronted with major challenges characterized by a low valuation of agricultural and agri-food innovations, the main cause of which remains the ignorance of the strategies for valuing these innovations.

To meet these challenges and stimulate the creation of knowledge-based jobs, the Togolese Institute of Agronomic Research (ITRA) obtained from the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and the ACP Fund for Innovation, a grant for the establishment of the Unit for Valorization of Agricultural and Agrifood Innovations (UVI2A). The ACP Innovation Fund is a Research and Innovation Program of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). It is implemented by the OACPS, with the financial contribution of the European Union.