Chapter 1. West Africa staple food systems: An overview of trends and indicators of demand, supply, and trade 29
Figure 19. Cassava yield trends (tonne/ha)
Source: FAOSTAT (2012)
In conclusion, those general patterns hide not only many disparities between crops but also among countries
and production basins, depending on the feasibility of irrigation, quality of extension and R&D services, accu-
mulation of farm and human capital, and availability of agricultural inputs. More importantly, substantial and
sustainable productivity increases are required in value chains for all staples, in order to catch up with other
developing countries and respond to future projected demand at both regional and world levels.
- Staple food trade in West Africa: A general overview of trends
In light of the significant, often undocumented, informal trade and commodity exchanges across borders
within West Africa, it was deemed necessary to treat formal trade flows separately from informal ones.
4.1 Formal trade flows
In this general overview we review trade flows, separating those flows within ECOWAS from those
taking place outside the region. Looking at trade statistics as summarized in Table 5, we see that the
food import flows into the ECOWAS region are largely dominated by extra-regional exporters. Table
6 summarizes trade for rice, maize, oil palm, groundnut oils, poultry and cassava, within and outside
the ECOWAS region and focusing on a few key countries, namely Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana,
Mali, Nigeria and Senegal.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010
Benin Côte d'Ivoire Ghana