The research aims at highlighting the most relevant levers for more accurate actions for innovation in the food industry by artisanal units. In particular, we target to identify through the reciprocal interactions of the various actors, the processes likely to lead the artisanal processing units to adopt innovations of product, process, and marketing to ensure the competitiveness of the products.Therefore, we focused on the following: how do the institutional processes lead to the innovation of the artisanal processing units? More specifically: what are the institutional logics that support the artisanal units’ processes of innovation? Is the institutional work leading to the adoption of new or improved methods of processing and marketing by these units?.For this purpose, we adopted a qualitative approach by focusing on the case of a federation of women, so-called FEPRODES, in the District of Saint-Louis. Through in-depth interviews and documentary analysis, we focused on the changes and innovations led by the FEPRODES. The discourse analysis is used to grasp the organizational field of the artisanal processing units of local rice.Results showed that the institutional work allowed women to change the social structure in the rice sector, to be endowed with several strategic resources, and thus, to lead the innovation processes in the rice industry.