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Climate & Climate change

Employment

Regional integration

Members:

ECOWAS

Body:

Following the specialised technical experts’ meeting, ECOWAS ministers endorsed the new ECOWAS Regional Agricultural Investment Plan and Food and Nutrition Security (RAIPFNS) on 12 December 2016 in Abuja. They also adopted a strategic framework for 2016-20, including a results framework to measure the impact and progress made in its implementation. The new plan builds on an in-depth assessment of achievements and takes stock of the limits of the ECOWAS regional agricultural policy, known as ECOWAP. Read on

30 Nov 2016

Progress towards achieving food security

Country:

Ghana

Mali

Topics:

Development co-operation

SWAC:

Body:

Undernourishment has decreased: The West Africa region leads the continent in progress toward reducing the number of people suffering from hunger and malnutrition. Despite rapid population growth across the region and recurrent droughts in the Sahel, West Africa has reduced the prevalence of undernourishment by 60% over the last two decades, from 24.2% in 1990-92 to 9.6% in 2014-16. Read on

30 Nov 2016

Prevalence of undernourishment

Topics:

SWAC:

Body:

35 million people are still undernourished: Despite a significant decrease in undernourishment, many West Africans have been left behind. 10% of the population – around 35 million people – still suffer from chronic undernourishment or malnutrition. Among those particularly touched are the households of farmers excluded from the market, agro-pastoralists or pastoralists over-dependent on livestock and threatened by repeated droughts, and poor workers in the informal economy. Read on

30 Nov 2016

Share of regional food GDP by country, 2010

Country:

Nigeria

Topics:

Urban-rural development

SWAC:

Body:

The city is the engine of the food economy: Rural populations tend to concentrate in areas near cities. The growth of cities therefore stimulates the integration of rural and urban areas, and the vector of integration is trade. Markets provide at least two-thirds of household food consumption in West Africa. Read on

30 Nov 2016

Manufacturing activities in Senegal, 1980-2010

Country:

Senegal

Topics:

Employment

SWAC:

Body:

The food economy: a primary source of employment: Agriculture represents only 60% of the food economy. The economic activities that take place upstream (input supply, seeds) and downstream (processing, trade) account for 40%. The food industry is growing faster than agricultural production. It consists of numerous and increasingly complex value chains. Read on

30 Nov 2016

Distribution of household food consumption, 2010

Topics:

Urban-rural development

SWAC:

Body:

Food security in cities: Urban food insecurity is a real problem, the scale of which is likely to increase as urban populations expand. The problem is poorly documented, however, and its unique characteristics should be better taken into account in food and nutrition monitoring systems. Read on

30 Nov 2016

Regional maize flows

Topics:

Cross-border co-operation

Migration & Mobility

SWAC:

Body:

Social and business networks: West African migration forms the basis of strong social and business networks. These networks contribute to the regional integration of agribusiness markets such as the maize market. Read on

30 Nov 2016

Refugees and internally displaced persons linked to current or recent conflicts

Country:

Chad

Mali

Niger

Topics:

SWAC:

Body:

Security threats exacerbate structural weaknesses: Niger, Chad and Mali are very fragile countries, combining problems related to their high rates of population growth, poverty and food insecurity. Security threats are exacerbating these structural weaknesses. In Sahelian countries, the insecurity-food complex must be addressed via a single, integrated approach. Read on

30 Nov 2016

Food value chain

Topics:

Employment

Regional integration

Urban-rural development

SWAC:

Body:

The food economy - rural and urban, primary, secondary and tertiary, formal and informal - is much larger than the agricultural economy alone and has the potential to create more growth and more jobs. Since it focuses on the domestic market, which has a high growth rate, it is not as volatile and should be the keystone of economic policies. Cross‑cutting and multi-sectoral strategies are needed to enhance the food economy’s potential. Read on

30 Nov 2016

PREGEC cycle for food crisis prevention and management

Topics:

Climate & Climate change