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Publications
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FORTHCOMING
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Global Security Risks and West Africa: Development Challenges
OECD West African Studies, January 2012
This SWAC publication explores current global security issues, their development in West Africa and their potential impact on regional stability. It takes a close look at issues such as terrorism and trafficking, climate change, and the links between “security and development”. Some of these issues are still the object of heated debate. This book draws attention to the risk of oversimplified analyses and biased perceptions of security risks. It also highlights the need for co-ordinated policies and dialogue between West Africa, North Africa and OECD countries.
> learn more about SWAC work on security and development: www.oecd.org/swac/security-develpment
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RECENT PUBLICATIONS
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Informal economy and food security
West African Futures, no. 6, November 2011
It would be misleading to address food security without taking into account a large part of the economy that provides jobs, incomes and essential services for the urban population and for the non-agricultural population in rural areas. Despite its important role, however, the informal economy is still poorly defined, poorly measured and consequently poorly taken into account in food security policies. This note takes stock of the size and importance of this economy and the way it operates. |
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Emerging good practice in combating the worst forms of child labour in West African cocoa growing communities
November 2011
Building on collaborative work conducted by the SWAC Secretariat in collaboration with the International Cocoa Initiative, this work gathers together the experiences and ideas from representatives of governments, organisations and agencies active at different stages along the cocoa supply chain as well as from men, women and children living in cocoa growing communities. It outlines seven key messages and identifies some emerging good practices from existing interventions in the hope of contributing to their proliferation. It reflects on the roles and responsibilities of those concerned to encourage greater clarity, co-ordination and collaboration in the coming years.
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Regional trade and food security
West African Futures, no. 5, October 2011
Regional food markets and trade are crucial to West African food security. This paper aims to highlight statistical inconsistencies and how they can impact perceptions of food issues. It illustrates the need to consider the regional and informal dimensions of trade when designing food security strategies.
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Agricultural and non-agricultural population
West African Futures, no. 4, September 2011
The agricultural population does not exclusively live in rural areas; agricultural producers can also be found in urban settings. Similarly, a significant proportion of rural dwellers are not food-producers. The relative proportions of food producers and non-producers vary with the size of the urban agglomerations and also depend on the level of economic development. This paper highlights the difficulty of measuring and monitoring the ratio between agricultural and non-agricultural populations (PP/NPP ratio). This indicator is nevertheless essential for managing food security policy.
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Economic concentration and settlement
West African Futures, no. 3, August 2011
Drawing on the World Bank’s World Development Report 2009, “Reshaping economic geography", this note analyses the transformation of the rural-urban relationship in progress in West Africa and the development issues it engenders. Building on the argument advanced in previous briefing notes, it places the link between urbanisation and economic growth in a food security perspective.
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Harmonisation of West African settlement data
West African Futures, no. 2, July 2011
West African countries have sufficiently similar characteristics as to prompt comparisons between national situations. Such comparisons are possible only if the data are uniform. This note therefore calls attention to the need, within a regional approach, to pursue the consistency and harmonisation of settlement data.
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West African urbanisation trends
West African Futures, no. 1, June 2011
This briefing note addresses the problems of data reliability, varying definitions and consistency and comparability between information sources. Estimates of West Africa’s urban population differ widely between United Nations data and those of the Africapolis study Urbanisation Trends 1950-2020 – Geo-statistical Approach – West Africa. For 2000 the Africapolis estimate is 19 million lower than that of the United Nations. This gap is a major problem for analysing the region’s food situation and outlook.
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The 2008 rice crisis – shock and new challenges
West African Challenges, no. 2, June 2011
West Africa currently imports 5.2 million tonnes of rice, compared with 1.7 million tonnes in the early 1990s, and is only able to cover 60% of its needs despite possessing considerable rice-growing potential. The region will nevertheless for the foreseeable future remain dependent on an international market in which prices are structurally rising and which is increasingly volatile. This paper analyses the crisis of 2008, new trends and policy responses to address new challenges in the rice sector. It is based on a study carried out between May and December 2010 by CILSS, CIRAD, FAO, FEWS NET and the WFP.
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Security implications of climate change in the Sahel region: policy considerations
February 2011
The project ‘Security implications of climate change in the Sahel region’ aimed to increase understanding of the linkages and impacts of climate change and security and on how climate change could contribute to insecurity in the future. This paper summarises and brings together the conclusions of the analyses carried out and identifies key issues for policy makers, specific interest for future work and gaps and uncertainties in existing research.
> Executive summary | > full study
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Practical guide on cross-border co-operation
Lessons from Mali-Burkina Faso and regional perspectives
February 2011
This CD-ROM provides cross-border co-operation actors with analyses of possible approaches for facilitating financial and legal arrangements of their activities. A selection of maps of West African borders is also included. > to receive a copy of this CD-rom, contact: sylvie.letassey@oecd.org
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RPCA Policy note, No. 4, March 2011
December 2010
Main conclusions and recommendations from the 26th RPCA annual meeting, held in Accra from 14-16 December 2010. Special focus on the livestock sector's contribution to food security. Among others, network members recommend to governments and development partners to support the setting up of locally-based veterinary services (private or community-based) to improve animal health. As regards progress made in the adoption of a revised Food Aid Charter, they highligted the importance of setting-up monitoring capacities to assess the application of the new Charter once adopted.
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