Cover_Rebuilding West Africas Food Potential

Chapter 2. A historical comparative analysis of commodity development models in West Africa 51

• The commodity cases examined are evaluated according to: (i) the improvement of productivity
  trends; (ii) the distribution of added value among the value chain actors, including farmers; and (iii)
  risk-management mechanisms for the commodity, subject to international conditions, etc.


• Also included is a review of other relevant internal or external factors, developments or shocks that
  contributed to the commodity’s good performance, stagnation or decline.

Table 3. Analytical framework for policy analysis of value chain models in West Africa

Analytical framework for policy analysis of value chain models in West Africa

ACTIONS

(Instruments/Measures)

ACTORS

(Institutions)

Policy actions

and actors

analyzed

• Subsidies (fertilizers; credit)


• Taxes


• Regulations (laws; licenses)


• Price regulation/controls
  
  
  • Ministries/specialised agencies
  
  
  • Parastatal (commodity) agencies
  
  
  • Agro-industry/ private actors
  
  
  • Producer groups; Cooperatives/PO
  
  
  • Professional organisations/NGO
    Analysis
    of policy
    institutions
    and policy
    processes
  
  
  
  


• Efficiency


• Effect on target beneficiaries


• Cost/benefit


• Agency objectives (maximizing revenue;
  profit; market share)


• Governance: power structure; bargaining
  capacity; shared information


• Relationships between actors (coordina-
  tion; harmonisation, conflict; mistrust)


• Benefits and risk sharing across actors

Drivers of

value chain

performance

and sustain-

ability

INTERNAL

• Indicators of long term productivity trends


• Distribution of value added among the value chain actors


• Risk management instruments and their effectiveness

EXTERNAL

• Technological developments


• Changing food demand trends


• Emergence of commodity substitutes


• Changing competitiveness among competing suppliers


• External shocks
  Source: Authors

The above framework is applied for analysis of three export commodities (groundnuts, cocoa, cotton),
two high-value export commodities (pineapple, banana) and two staple crops (cassava, maize). The
commodity/country pairs examined are summarized in Table 4, along with selected features.

Table 4. Commodities studied and their key characteristics

Commodity /

country

Key

actor(s)

Primary

market

Degree of

integration

Role of

smallholders

Potential for

growth

Traditional export

commodities

Groundnuts

(Senegal)

State;

parastatals

Export and

domestic

Integrated

internally up

to exports

Large number

of smallholder

producers;

Limited (strong

competition from

substitutes); degraded

soils