@ARTICLE{10.21494/ISTE.OP.2026.1486, 

TITLE={The Leather, Fonio and Maad Value Chains in Senegal: Systemic Failures and Comparative Dynamics}, 
  
AUTHOR={Mohamet Diop
, Ndeye Sokhna Cissé, }, 
	
JOURNAL={Science, Technology, Development}, 
	
VOLUME={6}, 

NUMBER={Issue 1}, 
	
YEAR={2026}, 

URL={https://www.openscience.fr/The-Leather-Fonio-and-Maad-Value-Chains-in-Senegal-Systemic-Failures-and}, 
	
DOI={10.21494/ISTE.OP.2026.1486}, 
	
ISSN={2752-6879}, 
	
ABSTRACT={This article analyzes the dynamics and systemic failures of three Senegalese value chains leather, fonio, and Maad (*Saba senegalensis*) through the lens of the value chain approach developed by the French school of industrial economics. Employing a mixed-methods approach that combines 591 questionnaires and 32 semi-structured interviews across the Thiès, Ziguinchor, and Tambacounda regions, the study examines the technical, financial, and socio-economic dimensions of each chain, as well as the systemic failures limiting their development potential. The findings reveal three contrasting value chain configurations and offer three key insights: innovation can occur without an institutional framework; gender shapes sectoral knowledge bases; and institutions suffer from a functional invisibility that disconnects them from the very actors they are meant to support. Failures of the same nature produce contrasting pathways for the sectors, depending on their intensity and combination. These contributions enrich the analysis of value chains in the context of least developed countries.}}