Category Archives: Livelihoods

West Africa’s regional livestock trade

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Regional livestock trade in West Africa is suffering due to lack of policy integration and illegal cross-border “taxes”.

Livestock trade policies differ widely between countries in West Africa. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are livestock exporting countries, and want to strengthen livestock marketing and processing and promote regional trade. Livestock importing countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria, promote policies that protect local livestock producers, boost internal production, and ensure food security in livestock products. A recently released report investigating livestock policies in six West African countries has urged that regional policies be streamlined, harmonised and implemented in a coordinated way to avoid bureaucratic bottlenecks. The report also noted that transportation of livestock across borders and illegal “taxes” represent significant additional marketing costs that impact negatively on regional livestock trade.

  • In West Africa, cross-border transportation can cost a staggering 300% more than the equivalent transfer of beef from Europe to West Africa’s coast. Meantime, regional cross-border transfer of cattle costs twice as much as domestic transportation, despite better transportation infrastructures.
  • Intra-regional trade in live animals attracts certain costs which are unlikely to be incurred if meat products are traded. For example, livestock drovers (people who drive herds of animals to market) are paid handling fees during the 2-3 day trip.
  • Some governments in the region are not fully committed to the implementation of agreed trade policy reforms concerning trade liberalisation and facilitation, exchange and payments systems and investment facilitation. This negatively affects costs of livestock trade and regional integration.
  • Illegal road taxation at numerous checkpoints can be as much as 10% of total marketing costs. Here, traders are required to make non-receipted payments to public agents for no obvious reason (see box below)
Illegal “taxes” at checkpoints hurt regional livestock trade

Numerous checkpoints exist along the highways where non-receipted payments are systematically made to police, customs, veterinary and other officials per truckload of cattle.

    Along the main cross-border trading routes, the checkpoints at Ferkessedougou and Bouake, both in Côte d’Ivoire, have the most notorious reputation, harbouring up to three different agents, namely: police, customs and gendarmerie. The checkpoint in Zegua, Mali is also reputed for frequent payments made to officials. Depending on the itinerary, total non-receipted payments can range from 12,000 FCFA on the Bittou to Accra route to 71,000 FCFA from Sikasso to Abidjan, translating respectively to 1.7 and 10.5% of cross-border marketing costs for cattle in the two routes. Illegal “taxes” between Sikasso to Abidjan are nearly twice as high as the government imposed fuel taxes for the same route.

Abolishing illegal cross border “taxes” would result in significant cost reductions and minimisation of delays that lead to deteriorating cattle health and sometimes death.

Recommendations include:

  • Protocols on regional livestock trade and regional integration introduced by the Union Économique et Monétaire de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (UEMOA) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), need to be streamlined, harmonised and implemented.
  • Regional livestock trade should shift its current focus from live animals to meat.
  • Regulations that provide for the free movement of people and goods in the region should be implemented by reducing the number of roadside checkpoints, curbing the excesses of conveyance companies (sociétés de convoyage), and actively fighting illegal road taxation.

Report and Briefs

The full report and a set of four briefs are now available for download.

Read the complete Improvement of Livestock Marketing and Regional Trade in West Africa report: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/10568/1572/1/CFC_Report_on_Trade_In_WAfrica_1.pdf

Brief 1: Marketing livestock in West Africa: Opportunities and constraints: Brief 1  T.O. Williams, I. Okike, I. Baltenweck and C. Delgado.

This brief summarises the discussions and major outputs from a regional workshop held in Niamey, Niger in 1999. The objective was to analyse the economic, institutional and policy constraints to livestock marketing and trade in order to provide a basis for new policy interventions to improve market efficiency and intra-regional livestock trade.

Read the complete brief: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/10568/1593/1/WestAfrLivestock1-Eng.pdf

Brief 2: Livestock marketing channels, flows and prices in West Africa: Brief 2. I. Okike, T.O. Williams, B. Spycher, S. Staal and I. Baltenweck

Livestock markets that are strategically located along the border of neighbouring countries to ease cross-border trade were studied to identify livestock marketing channels from farm gates to terminal markets. Economic operators and livestock flows within these channels were also examined along with seasonal variations and other factors affecting livestock prices. The findings indicate that producers and operators can realise significant economic benefits by increasing meat production and livestock trade value through improved credit access and better market information.

Read the complete brief: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/10568/1774/1/WestAfrLivestock2-Eng.pdf

Brief 3: Lowering cross-border livestock transportation and handling costs in West Africa: Brief 3. I. Okike, B. Spycher, T.O. Williams and I. Baltenweck

This brief analyses the costs incurred in the transfer of animals through the marketing chain and highlights areas where costs could be reduced for example, intra-regional trade in live animals attracts certain types of costs which are unlikely to be incurred if meat products, rather than live animals, are traded.

Read the complete brief: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/10568/1932/1/WestAfrLivestock3-Eng.pdf

Brief 4: Promoting livestock marketing and intraregional trade in West Africa: Brief 4   I. Okike, T.O. Williams and I. Baltenweck

Livestock trade has the potential to contribute even more to foreign exchange earnings if properly promoted. The major economic, institutional and policy barriers to the realisation of the full potentials of livestock trade are identified in this brief.

Read the complete brief: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/10568/1702/1/WestAfrLivestock4-Eng.pdf

Niger: Emergency assistance is not enough

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Emergency assistance is not enough to end Niger's hunger problems. The underlying causes of the current crisis can be addressed only through longer term research, development and policy programs focusing on agriculture, particularly on livestock keeping, the backbone of Nigerian livelihoods. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), a US-funded and research-based organization, argues convincingly in its July reports that the crisis in Niger is serious but less severe and affects far fewer people than current crises in four other African countries. This forecast organization warns of the consequences of continued failure to address the root causes of Niger's current crisis. 'Without a similar commitment and prolonged attention to addressing the chronic issues that are at the heart of the current localized crisis in Niger, the same problems will reoccur again soon,' FEWS NET warns. ILRI agrees that much more of the world's attention and resources should be spent addressing the root causes of the hunger crisis now afflicting parts of Niger and its Sahelian neighbours. Emergency assistance is not enough. Such assistance will save the lives of infants today who will go on to suffer and succumb to the affects of poverty over the coming months and years, after the world's media has turned its spotlight elsewhere. The factors underlying Niger's chronic food insecurity need to be understood and acted upon. That requires more research and development work. The case for making agriculture – and livestock production in particular – a priority in research, development, policy and emergency assistance for Niger is overwhelming. The present food crisis also calls for better and stronger links between relief, development and research work. Such links will help ensure that decisions made by development and relief workers are based on credible evidence, that policymakers and journalists are informed by the high-quality research-based information, that research remains relevant to local priorities and that short-term emergency activities do not inadvertently divert longer term R&D from tackling the underlying causes of poverty and vulnerabilities of poor people We need to work in new turfless ways, bringing together the resources and expertise of emergency, development and research workers for integrated and long- as well as short-term problem-solving. The attention Niger's hunger and suffering has generated in recent weeks offers us an opportunity to scale up work that will not only relieve the suffering of the tiny victims of this Nigerian tragedy and their families, and not only help farming communities rebuild their livelihoods, but also leave a more enabling legacy for future generations of the  peoples of the Sahel, whose indomitable spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges we would do well to emulate. Links ILRI photo essay (pdf and html): 'Niger: Behind the Famine Footage' (8 Aug 2005). ILRI image gallery (Flash): ‘Daily Life and Livestock Livelihoods in Niger’ (Jun 2005). ILRI website ‘Top Story’ (html): ‘Livestock aid urgently needed for Niger families’ (2 Aug 2005).

Livestock aid urgently needed for Niger families

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Without livestock aid the crisis in Niger will worsen and more food and other aid will be needed. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) issued an urgent appeal today for livestock aid for more than 10,000 Niger families who have lost their animals. It is estimated that 3.5 million – more than a third of Niger’s population – are experiencing chronic food shortages. Food crops have been decimated by drought and locusts, and millions of livestock have perished. Many of the poorest and most vulnerable families are dependent on livestock for food and income. Milk is particularly important for children’s nutrition. Now the rains have come, pasture is available, but many of the animals have died and any remaining livestock are in very poor condition, with little milk being produced. FAO is appealing for livestock, livestock feed and veterinary services to help Niger people rebuild their lives and livelihoods. UN News Centre news article, 2 August 2005 - UN appeals for agricultural aid to prevent food crisis from worsening ILRI Photo Essay, 10 August 2005 - Niger: Behind the famine footage ILRI Top Story, 8 August 2005 'Niger: Emergency Assistance Is Not Enough'