INEAC was established as a successor to the Régie des Plantations de la Colonie (REPCO). The INEAC experimental fields and research facilities were built along the north bank of the Congo River, and along a road stretching northward from the river for about 25 kilometres (16 mi). The goal of this institute was to follow a more scientific approach with regards to agricultural policies and innovations, and to promote the diffusion of agricultural innovations and know-how under the Congolese farmers. The creation of this institute was part of a larger 'indigenous peasantry programme'. This policy aimed to modernize indigenous agriculture by assigning plots of land to individual families (after rigorous prospection and soil analysis) and by providing them with government support in the form of selected seeds, agronomic advice, fertilizers, etc