CILSS leaders gathered on 7 February in Niamey for the 18th ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government. Organised back-to-back with the G5 Sahel summit, six presidents (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal) as well the Prime Minister of Togo participated in the event. Discussions focused on how to advance reforms of the 45-year old institution and how to provide the institution with sustainable financing. Read on

Food is particularly expensive for households in sub-Saharan Africa – relative to their incomes. Prices are 30-40% higher than in the rest of the world with comparable per capita GDP levels. In West Africa, markets provide at least two-thirds of household food supplies and households spend an average of 55% of their budgets on food. “Transforming the food economy is key to lowering prices,” explains Thomas Allen from the Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat (SWAC/OECD) in an article published on the OECD Development Matters blog. Read on

The African Development Bank approved on 10 January a grant of USD 43 million to help Niger become more resilient to food and nutrition insecurity. It will support the implementation of the first phase of the Reform and Economic Resilience Support Programme (PARRE) covering the period of 2017-19. Read on

This issue of the Grain de Sel magazine published by Inter-réseaux, is part of a series of reflections on pastoralism in West Africa, which started in 2015. It underlines the linkages between pastoralism in the Sahel and coastal countries, which have often been neglected in development strategies. Read on