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Literature on product design activity in the Western manufacturing industry has explored in depth the question of cooperation and collaboration. While such activity supposes a prior relationship of trust between stakeholders, investigations in an African country show that this is not necessarily the case. The primary issue arising in this part of the world is the link between knowledge exchange, collaboration and recognition. This article proposes to review the concept of recognition, as applied to sociology of the sciences and social philosophy, and then to explore the concept in relation to farming and food-processing equipment design in the developing country of Burkina Faso. By focusing thinking on the circulation of knowledge and know-how in the machine design world, the article shows the extent to which trust and mistrust, together with a sense of injustice and suspicion, affect cooperation, innovation and the spread of knowledge.