Cover_Rebuilding West Africas Food Potential

50 Rebuilding West Africa’s food potential

The objective of this chapter is to conduct a comparative analysis of three agricultural sector

development models in West Africa, which coincide with three historical periods in the region. The

three commodity models compared are:

1. Traditional export commodity model; state-controlled (coffee, cocoa, cotton, groundnuts).


2. Non-traditional value chain export model; private agribusiness-led (horticulture)


3. Staple food commodity model; multi-actor and multi-market model (cereals, roots and tubers, livestock).

The aim is to examine the key features of the first two export commodity models, compared with

the third staple food domestic commodity model and draw the appropriate conclusions as to the key

features of a commodity model suitable for staple foods. The approach is comparative, drawing from

historical development models and noting lessons from their successes and their failures.

For policy analysis, the approach we take draws from institutional economics and focuses on policy

processes, distinguishing between policy actions (instruments) and policy actors (institutions). We view

sectoral policies and strategies as path-dependant, built over past experiences and very difficult to

reverse unless the economy comes under unexpected and significant external shock. Examples include

the oil crisis of 1973 and the world food price crisis of 2007/08.

In each of the export commodity cases examined, we follow a simple analytical framework, described

in Table 3 and summarized below:

• Policy instruments (actions) are evaluated through the following performance indicators: (i) efficiency;
  (ii) impact of the instrument on targeted beneficiaries; and (iii) cost/sustainability of the action.


• Policy actors (institutions) that initiate and manage these instruments are examined on the basis of: (i)
  their objectives and aims; (ii) the resources mobilized to achieve them; (iii) the degree of harmonization
  among different instruments; (iv) the concordance or conflicts between the objectives of key players;
  and (v) the governance and the relative power or weakness of different players.

Table 2. Key epochs for West Africa relating to value chain development models

Period Prevailing commodity/value chain model Key commodities/Key players

Colonial period

(1920’s to 1960)

State supported, private-led value chains

focusing on exportable raw commodities

Cocoa, cotton, coffee, peanuts

Parastatals; private value chain actors; European/

international consumers

Post-independence

(1960-1980)

State-controlled (parastatals), inte-

grated value chains for exportable raw

commodities

Cocoa, cotton , coffee, peanuts

Parastatals

Post-structural

adjustment

(1980-2000)

State retreat from commodity chains,

emergence of non-traditional export

food products

Private-led value chains in selected high-value export

food (horticulture)

Post-MDG

(2000-2007)

New priorities for food import-substitu-

tion value chains (food security)

Transition period (liberalization of state-controlled

commodities, selective rise of the agribusiness-led

value chains)

Post-food crisis

(2007-now)

New initiatives to support production

and supply of staple food crops, align-

ment of new policies and investment

strategies focusing on staple foods

Initiatives for rice, maize, cassava, multiple private

and state-based players, new emphasis on public/

private partnerships, stronger role for producers’

organizations

Source: Authors