Agenda Experts meeting EN

Background

Intra-regional trade is a top policy priority for governments in West Africa. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), established in 2018 has been signed by 12 out of 15 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries, underlining the strong political momentum for deepening intra-African trade in the region. Increasing continental and intra-regional trade is also an important vector for deeper integration. In particular, increased intra-regional food trade has the potential to contribute to several important development objectives: improving food and nutrition security and resilience, the sustainability of food systems and livelihoods and economic development.

In West Africa, the intra-regional food trade is estimated at below 20% of total trade compared to more than 60% in Asia or Europe (FAO and AUC, 2021). However, official statistics are incomplete and significantly underestimate the true extent of intraregional food trade due to the large volumes that are informal and unrecorded. Several studies of the past 20 years show that the value of informal cross-border trade (ICBT) significantly exceeds formal trade in many countries. For example, a survey on unrecorded trade between Benin and neighbouring countries concluded that unrecorded exports from Benin to Nigeria are five times higher than officially recorded exports (INSAE, 2011 and 2012; Bensassi et al., 2016b).

Reliable food trade statistics are fundamental for effective policy making, particularly for agricultural and food system policies. Therefore, improving the coverage and measurement of food trade in West Africa should be an important priority for policy makers. The German development agency, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), has set up the ECOWAS Agricultural Trade (EAT) programme to support the ECOWAS Commission in promoting intra-regional agricultural trade in the region. Part of this programme is dedicated to strengthening the quality of agricultural trade and market intelligence in the region. In this context, the SWAC/ OECD Secretariat is organising an experts’ meeting to bring together stakeholders from government agencies, academia and international organisations to discuss the current trade data situation, initiatives and policy agendas, and to identify opportunities for action and collaboration to promote better use of trade data in policy design.

Objectives

The expert meeting has the following objectives:

• Assess current food trade data gaps in West Africa and discuss how the lack of data impact policy formulation in the region.

• Discuss national and regional initiatives and policy agendas on intra-regional food trade monitoring.

• Identify opportunities for action and collaboration to promote better food trade monitoring mechanisms at the West African regional level.

Agenda

Thursday 12 October

9:30-10:00

Welcome and introductory remarks

• ECOWAS

• GIZ-EAT

• SWAC/OECD Secretariat

10:00-12:30 Lunch 12:30-14:00

Session 1. Intra-regional food trade in Africa – What do we know? What don’t we know? What should we know?

Many of the data gaps on intra-regional food trade in (West) Africa are well-known in expert and policy circles. A range of research and government-led initiatives to produce data and analyses on intra-regional trade have been conducted in past decades. They have documented the significant volumes and diversity of unrecorded trade flows and the gaps in official trade records. However, there are issues in translating the evidence into sustained and coherent initiatives and policies.

We will start with an overview of ‘what we know’ of intra-regional food trade in Africa, to lead into discussions and ‘what we don’t know’ and ‘what we should know’. The aim is to understand whether existing data could be used to produce additional analyses and evidence (e.g. by overlaying with other data sets, regional analyses, modelling approaches and data accessibility) and which data would be particularly relevant for improving analyses and policy evidence on intra-regional trade.

• Setting the scene: “What we know, what we don’t know and what we should know on intra-regional trade in Africa”, Antoine Bouët, Director, Centre for Prospective Studies and International Information (CEPII)

Discussion

Session 2. Policy agenda: approaches and interventions measuring informal food trade in (West) Africa

The discussion will begin with the presentation of case studies in measuring informal intra-regional trade by governments and their partners. The case studies will cover a range of geographic areas and types of approaches, surveys and objectives. The discussion will reflect on identifying patterns and typologies of various approaches and their impact on policy agendas (contexts, survey objectives, follow-up, lessons learned).

The discussion is structured around the following points:

• What are the incentives for conducting informal trade surveys?

• What are the political and institutional contexts of intra-regional trade monitoring?

• How are informal trade surveys used to influence and change policies?

Presentations:

• Raimi Essessinou, Head of the Social Statistics Department, Social Statistics Directorate, INStaD Benin

• Mohammed Tumala, Head of the External Sector Statistics Division, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

Agenda

Friday 13 October

9:30-12:30

Session 3. Closing the food trade data gap in West Africa: Data, evidence and relevance

Several efforts have been made or are ongoing to better monitor informal cross-border trade in Africa. These efforts happen at both national (Benin, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Uganda, etc.) and regional (COMESA, UNECA) levels and prove the value added of having more regular, granular and complete food trade data for a better understanding of food trade dynamics and their implications for policy making. However, these efforts also reveal the diversity of methodological approaches used to capture informal trade data, underscoring the complexity of reconciling food trade data at the regional level. They also shed light on how resources are consumed and sustainability in the long term. In order to improve the monitoring of food trade at regional level so as to have complete, disaggregated, harmonised and comparable data, this session aims to identify the levers and action points for improving monitoring mechanisms.

The discussion is structured around the following points:

• Improving monitoring mechanisms

• What priorities for policy analyses?

• How and by whom?

• Co-ordination and harmonisation: From national efforts to regional approaches to measuring informal food trade (best practices, learning)

Presentations:

• Providence Mavubi, Director, Industry and Agriculture, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)

• Laura Naliaka, Trade Policy Fellow, Africa Trade Policy Centre, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

Discussion

Lunch 12:30-14:00

14:00-15:30

Session 4 – Next steps and collaborations

In the final session, we will discuss how we can work together to promote intra-regional trade monitoring capacity in West Africa.

• How can we continue to collaborate?

• How to build on ongoing initiatives?

Discussion

Closing 15:30-16:00

References

Bouët A., K. Pace and J. Glauber (2018), “Informal Cross-Border Trade in Africa: How Much? Why? And What Impact?”, IFPRI discussion paper, No. 01783, International Food Policy Research Institute, https://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/api/collection/p15738coll2/ id/133030/download.

FAO and AUC (2021), “Framework for boosting intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services”, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, https://doi.org/10.4060/cb3172en.

Guidance for the event

• The meeting is informal and everyone is encouraged to participate in the discussions.

• Short presentations will kick off each session.

List of participants

Title First name Last name Title Organisation

Mr Traore Fousseni Senior Research Fellow

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Mr Antoine Bouët Director Centre for Prospective Studies and International Information

Mr Sunday Odjo Deputy Director, Operational Support Akademiya2063

Dr Raimi Essessinou Chef Service des Statistiques Sociales, Direction des Statistiques Sociales

Mr Evince Yegbemey Senior Advisor EATECOWAS Agricultural Trade Programme

National Institute of Statistics and Demography (Instead) Benin

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Mr Laouali Ibrahim Regional Representative Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) ICBT – West Africa

Thomas Awuor Eastern Africa Markets and Trade Specialist Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) ICBT – East Africa

Mr Yared Bafecadu Program Manager

Mr Justin Matitoma Permanent Secretary AOCTAH/WACTAF, FARM-TRAC Focal Point

International Trade Centre (ITC)

West Africa Association for CrossBorder Trade, in Agro-forestrypastoral, fisheries products and Food (WATCAF)

Mrs Providence Mavubi Director, Industry and Agriculture Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)

Mrs Eleanor Wiesmann Researcher Stanford University

Mr Brahima Cisse Coordinator of IFAD FARMTRAC Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS)

Mr Mohammed Tumala Head, External Sector Statistics Division

Central Bank Nigeria (CBN)

Dr Laura Naliaka Trade Policy Fellow, Africa Trade Policy Centre

Dr Javier Suarez Lead Economist

Mrs Amey Otchakpa Chef Service Commerce Extérieur

Mr Justin Bailly Consultant, Principal Trade Advisor, Dept. of Economic Affairs & Agriculture

Mrs Sophie Diop Experte au Bureau des Echanges extérieurs

Mr Alejandro Guarín Principal Researcher

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

The World Bank

National Institute of Statistics and Economic and Demographic Studies (INSEED) Togo

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

National Agency of Statistics and Demography (ANSD) Senegal

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

Mr Jonathan Brooks Economist Independent

Mr Alban Mas Aparisi Economist

The World Bank/ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)