Cover_Rebuilding West Africas Food Potential

254 Rebuilding West Africa’s food potential

discussed. The paper concludes by assessing implications for smallholder farmers. Although correcting

market failure and improving producer organizations may yield benefits to farmers, these gains along

the value chain are likely to be small relative to gains from enhancing productivity, given constraints on

marketing interventions. Mature markets like cocoa and cotton may differ from new initiatives in that

respect, and institutional development - particularly for inputs and credit - may be needed as sectors

reform simply to maintain existing farm income levels.

2. Background

2.1 Cocoa and cotton in West Africa

Several West African countries generate significant export revenue from cocoa and cotton exports and

are major players in world markets for these commodities. The four largest West African cocoa exporters

accounted for about 70 percent of cocoa exports in 2005 (FAOSTAT, 2012). The two largest West African

cotton exporters played a somewhat smaller role, having shipped about 5.5 percent of worldwide cotton

exports in 2005. Other West African cotton exporters account for another 5.5 percent of world cotton

trade (ERS, 2010). Cocoa trade is closely related to production since only a small amount of production

is consumed domestically by any major cocoa exporter. The pattern of world trade in cotton exhibits a

significant share of production used domestically in some major producing countries. Cocoa and cotton

trade patterns are more similar in West Africa, however, since most production is exported rather than

consumed domestically, after varying degrees of primary processing.

Three of the countries examined here are largely dependent on a single commodity export (Burkina

Faso, Ghana and Mali), whereas other countries export several commodities (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire

and Nigeria). Table 1 reports cocoa and cotton exports in 2005 and 2009 from the six countries

examined here. Côte d’Ivoire is shown to export nearly USD2 billion worth of cocoa, 26 percent of its

total exports, and Ghana exported nearly USD1 billion of cocoa, a third of its exports in 2005. Burkina

Faso and Mali exported over USD 200 million worth of cotton, amounting to 62 percent and 24 percent

of total exports, respectively, and over 60 percent of agricultural exports for both in 2005 (FAOSTAT,

2010). Growth elsewhere in the economy decreased these shares in some cases for 2009.