Chapter 1. West Africa staple food systems: An overview of trends and indicators of demand, supply, and trade 11
- Staple food in West Africa: An overview of supply drivers
3.1 Strengthening the production-supporting environment
In this section we will review briefly the state of the key drivers affecting unit cost of production, including
infrastructure (hard and soft), land, energy and other inputs, as well as the institutional setting, such as the
business environment, legal enforcement of rules and transparency, and bureaucratic red tape and other
transaction impediments. Attention to all these elements is essential to enable rebuilding of the productive
capacity of the staple food systems and to strengthen agroprocessing and market creation opportunities.
This should stimulate demand for enhanced production and delivery of high-quality, high-value products,
equally benefiting small-scale producers and small businesses, as well as larger-scale operators.
A. infrastructure (roads; communications)
Hard Infrastructure: The provision of infrastructure is essentially a public responsibility, although there are
opportunities to engage the private sector in joint investments under appropriately designed public/private
partnerships (PPPs). The lack of paved roads (see Figure 4 below) and well-maintained infrastructures is an
impediment to market and business operations and slows down prospects for faster integration. Such a sub-
optimal state of road infrastructure also raises business and market risks, increases lead time and costs and
hampers competitiveness. Infrastructural constraints (transport, communications) also seriously impede farmers’
responses to market price signals and value chain incentives. In West Africa, it is estimated that about 40 percent
of the cost of food comprises just transport costs.
Figure 4. Share of paved roads(2004)
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators; authors’ calculations.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
West Africa SS Africa La nAmerCari MENA