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Hermetic storage has provided a successful storage method for protection of commodities without fumigants or need for refrigeration for insect control and quality preservation of stored products. Hermetic storage is achieved in specially constructed plastic structures for the preservation of cereal grains and other commodities. Plastic structures suitable for long-term storage systems, as well as intermediate storage of grain have been developed and applied. These storage systems based on the hermetic principle were designed for (1) storage at the farmercooperative and small trader level with 10 -1000 tonnes capacity for enclosing stacks termed Cocoons™, (2) small scale storage suitable for small portable containers of 60 kg to 2 tonnes called SuperGrainbags™ and (3) quality preservation, insect control and prevention of condensation during shipment of commodities in shipping containers known as TranSafeliners™. Hermetic storage is based on the principle of generation of an oxygendepleted, carbon dioxide-enriched interstitial atmosphere caused by the respiration of the living organisms in the ecological system of a sealed storage. A sufficiently low oxygen and elevated CO2, atmosphere is created through a natural metabolic process based on insect respiration and, in cases where the commodity has sufficiently high moisture, the respiration of the microorganisms within a sealed storage system. Applications for which hermetic technology has been most widely accepted are long-term storage of cereal grains, primarily rice, corn, barley, wheat and a variety of seeds to preserve germination potential and vigor and quality preservation of high-value commodities such as cocoa and coffee. Under field conditions in a cocoa bean storage facility in Makassar, Indonesia, a hermetically sealed flexible structure containing 6.7 tonnes of cocoa beans at an initial moisture content of 7.3% and relative humidity of 70% was monitored for oxygen concentration and quality parameters of the beans. The measurements showed a decrease in oxygen concentration to 0.3% after 5.5 days. No insects survived the oxygen depleted biogenerated atmosphere. Similar trials were carried out in Ghana by COCOBOD in which three stacks for hermetic storage and one stack each for conventional storage (without fumigation) and standard storage (with fumigation) were built for sampling and observation. At the sixth week of storage 100% mortality of insects was recorded in the Cocoon TM . All the cocoa beans inside the Cocoon TM maintained their quality category throughout the storage period and the grade remained the same after nine weeks of storage as it was at the beginning of the experiment.Key Words: Coffee, cocoa beans, hermetic storage, insects, modified atmospheres, quality preservation, seeds, storage RÉSUMÉLe stockage hermétique constitue une méthode satisfaisante de stockage pour la protection des produits sans recours aux fumigènes et à la refrigeration, pour le contrôle des insectes et la preservation de la qualité des produits stockés. Le...

-Cocoa is a major source of employment, smallholder farmers' incomes, and export revenue in Ghana. However, by 2010 institutional constraints throughout the value chain were failing to sustain bean quality and cocoa production. A national-level innovation platform, comprising key public and private actors in the cocoa sector, was established in 2010 to analyse and act to address this concern. The members' initial inquiries revealed that: farmers indirectly were paying for the national mass spraying and Hi-Tech input programmes, both provided free at the point of delivery. As the largest components in the cost structure, these programmes to a large extent accounted for the low price paid to farmers for their beans; a volatile exchange rate regime meant that often the prevailing rate was not equal to its equilibrium level; policies that heavily taxed cocoa were destroying farmers' expectation of long-term profitability. This paper draws on data recorded from the beginning 2009 to end 2013 by means of theory-guided process tracing (TGPT), to show how the platform contributed to increased prices for farmers, to subsequent reform of the input supply arrangements, and to changes to the mass spraying programme. The key causal mechanisms identified are policy learning and progressive amendment of existing institutions. The paper concludes by drawing lessons for the role of an innovation platform.Keywords: cocoa / price formation / value chain / pest control / stakeholder-led change Résumé -Une plate-forme d'innovation pour le changement institutionnel dans la filière cacao au Ghana. Au Ghana, le cacao est une source importante d'emplois, de revenus pour les petits agriculteurs et de recettes d'exportation. Cependant, en 2010, il a été diagnostiqué que des contraintes tout au long de la filière avaient un impact négatif sur la qualité et la production de fèves de cacao. Une plate-forme d'innovation nationale, comprenant les principaux acteurs publics et privés de la filière cacao, a donc été mise en place en 2010 pour analyser le problème et y répondre. Les enquêtes initiales ont révélé : que les agriculteurs payaient indirectement pour les programmes nationaux de « pulvérisation de pesticides » et d'intrants « Hi-Tech », tous deux soi-disant disponibles gratuitement ; or, en tant que composantes les plus importantes dans la structure des coûts, ces programmes étaient en fait largement responsables du faible prix payé aux * Corresponding