The Sahel and West Africa Club (OECD/SWAC) has organised a public-private dialogue on “ The private sector's perception of the West African food trade environment ” to discuss the constraints, opportunities and prospects for food trade in West Africa. The workshop is part of the GIZ-led ECOWAS Agricultural Trade Programme (EAT).  

Background

Intra-regional agricultural and food trade is essential to the development of West Africa. It contributes to improving food and nutrition security and resilience, livelihoods and economic growth, as well as the sustainability of food systems in the region. It also contributes to regional integration.

Despite these benefits, intra-regional food trade is limited by significant border constraints. These include harassment at border crossings, particularly for women, high formal and informal control fees, complex customs clearance procedures and inadequate infrastructure. These obstacles are well documented in the literature on intra-regional trade in the region.

However, many aspects of the food trade environment in the region remain poorly understood. As part of the BMZ-funded ECOWAS Agricultural Trade Programme (EAT), OECD/SWAC, in partnership with the West African Association for Cross-Border Trade in Food, Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral, and Fishery Products (WACTAF), conducted surveys of the perceptions of nearly 3,000 food traders in the region, to better understand:

• Their perception of the obstacles and improvements needed for intra-regional food trade, including but not limited to border aspects (access to financing, infrastructure, security...)
  

• Their motivations for engaging in this trade despite existing obstacles
  

• Their outlook on the future of their business, and on promising products and markets in the region
  

• Their assessment of the quality of action taken by ECOWAS and national governments to facilitate trade.
  

By providing answers to these questions, the surveys aim to enlighten political decision makers in ECOWAS, national governments, as well as donors and technical agencies to design and implement actions that:

• Follow rules better adapted to the needs of the private intra-regional food trade sector
• Create a more favorable environment for the private intra-regional food trade sector
  

• Accompany the growth of intra-regional food trade in West Africa in the medium and long term.
  

Objective

The event helped to identify some of the main challenges beyond the border constraints that limit food trade in West Africa, and to compare the perceptions of public and private players on the intra-regional food trade environment, its opportunities and prospects. In addition, the event helped to propose improvements in policy and regulatory frameworks to create a more favourable environment for intra-regional food trade, thus fostering sustainable growth and regional integration.

Participants

The workshop's target audience included technical and financial partners (ECOWAS, GIZ and ITC), as well as participants from the private and public sectors.

• Private sector: National Chambers of Commerce (Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo), FEWACCI, WACTAF, FEBWE, private agri-food companies (Laiterie du Berger, As Green, Aromatics Herbs and Spices, FATOU & KADIJA Entreprise, Les Céreales de Tatam, Les Précuits GLP Aliments d'Afrique).
  

• Public sector: Ministries of Agriculture and Trade (Togo, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire), ANStat de Côte d'Ivoire.
  

• Technical and financial partners: CECI, ECOWAS, CILSS, GIZ, ITC, OECD/SWAC.