The Future of Livestock in West Africa

Valorising Regional Livestock Complementarities: A lever to better meet growing demand for animal products in the Sahel and West Africa

With a growth rate of animal products in the Sahel and West Africa estimated at 4% per year, demand is expected to increase by more than 250% by 2025. The importance of imports varies according to different zones and raises the following issues: Can regional demand be met at reasonable prices by increasing local production? If so, why the potential demand is not yet satisfied by regional production? Are current livestock policies in line with food security goals and with potential production?

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Implementing Trade Policies to Strengthen the Regional Animal Products Market

To ensure the stability and development of the livestock sector, it is very important to regulate competing imports, including by-products, and to harmonise cross-border trade policies. West Africa must define agricultural and trade policies that enable it to better integrate into the global market while optimising its potential production. Livestock is a very competitive product but the sub-sector is still largely unorganised and its transaction costs remain high (transporting live cattle very long distances and a lot of administrative hassle).

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Promoting and Supporting Change in Transhumant Pastoralism in the Sahel and West Africa

Transhumant pastoralism is important in the Sahel and West Africa's livestock sector and involves 70-90% of the Sahel’s cattle and 30-40% of its sheep and goats. Despite its importance, it still faces serious obstacles that threaten its potential production. The dramatic shrinkage in pastures as a result of expanding crop cultivation and the takeover by agriculture of key pastoral areas and the neglect of livestock in major dam projects on the Senegal and Niger rivers restricts the access of cattle to the Sahel’s resources.

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Strengthening the Role of Actors and Livestock Professionals: A Necessity to Stimulate Regional Trade

With the reduction or even the dismantling of checkpoints along trade routes and the abolition of customs duties on cattle exports to other UEMOA countries, professionals recognise that significant progress has been made in the free movement of people and goods. However, some actors stress the continuing bureaucratic “obstacles” involving illegal taxes imposed along international roads. Trade is slowed down as a result and the consumer ends up paying more than he should for animal products. How can actors contribute to stimulating animal production sectors in the Sahel and West Africa? What steps could strengthen the actors’ capacity?

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Science and Technology: Responding to Future Challenges in the Livestock Sector

Strengthening capacities and human resources in research are vital to the future of the livestock sector, yet little attention is paid to research policy. The lack of resources allocated to scientific research hinders development of technology to meet the needs of the range of livestock farming systems and the breeders themselves. What policies need to be adopted in order to strengthen the contribution of science and technology the promotion of animal sectors in the Sahel and West Africa?
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Processing of Agro-food animal products in the Sahel and West Africa: essential for strengthening intra and extra-regional trade

The fact that urban West African consumers are increasingly geared towards processed foods has often been neglected in the analysis of the evolution of the African food system. Policy Note No. 6, produced within the framework of the SWAC initiative on “Potentials and Challenges for Strengthening the Regional Market” focuses on the analysis of this phenomenon and its impact on intra and extra-regional trade. There is a gap that needs to be bridged between food consumption patterns and animal product marketing systems.
> download the policy note nº6 (0,8 Mb)