The creation of public organizations and associations focused on a particular agricultural commodity has been a characteristic feature of colonial development. This type of organization continued to exist after the independence of former colonies, without any great disruption, especially in the countries of francophone Africa. It was only in the 1980s that liberalization policies led to major changes and upheavals. The current popularity of public-private partnerships, however, has opened up new perspectives.This chapter first covers the history of these commodity based organizations before briefly describing the far-reaching reconfiguration of agriculture in the wake of liberalization policies implemented over the last 30 years.