SWAC press kit - English by SWAC/OECD

SAHEL AND WEST AFRICA

PRESS KIT

Club Secretariat

www.oecd.org/swac/about/news

WHO WE ARE

The Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC) is an independent, international platform whose Secretariat is hosted at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

OUR MISSION

We promote regional integration to improve the economic and social well-being of people in the Sahel and West Africa. Our current areas of work are food and nutrition issues; cities, territories and environment; securities and borders.

WHAT WE DO

We produce data and analyses, and facilitate strategic dialogue to help policy makers better anticipate the transformations in the region and promote contextualised policies.

OUR MEMBERS & FINANCIAL PARTNERS

Austria: Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs (BMEIA); Austrian Development Agency (ADA) Belgium: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Canada: Global Affairs Canada CILSS: Executive Secretariat of the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel ECOWAS: Commission of the Economic Community of West African States European Union France: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development; French Development Agency (AFD) Germany: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Luxembourg: Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs Netherlands (the): Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINBUZA) Spain: Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation Switzerland: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) UEMOA: Commission of the West African Economic and Monetary Union United States: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

OUR NETWORKS

The Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA) aims to build a coherent and shared understanding of the region’s food and nutrition situation, and to inform decision making. It is co-animated with the CILSS.

OUR REPORT SERIES

The West African Studies book series examines current economic and social issues in West Africa focusing on urbanisation and security. Our two flagship publications, regularly published, are: Urbanisation and Conflicts in North and West Africa and Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics. Publications are available in English and French.

Urbanisation and Conflicts in North and West Africa examines and maps the rural-urban geography of conflict in North and West Africa since the late 1990s. A qualitative analysis of ten cities helps to illuminate the local sources of conflict. At a time of increasing violence in West Africa, the report lays out a solid foundation for policy makers, experts and researchers to develop more security and development place-based policies. Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2022 provides a new perspective on Africa’s urban economies that is unique in its breadth and level of detail. Based on data from more than 4 million individuals and firms in 2 600 cities across 34 countries, it presents compelling evidence that urbanisation contributes to better economic outcomes and higher living standards.

Media contacts: lia.beyeler@oecd.org, preeya.khongwir@oecd.org, rosa.serpico@oecd.org, swac.contact@oecd.org

SAHEL AND WEST AFRICA

PRESS KIT

Club Secretariat

www.oecd.org/swac/about/news

The West African Papers explore African socio-economic, political and security dynamics from a regional and multidisciplinary perspective. They seek to stimulate discussion and gather information to better anticipate the changes that will shape future policies. The series is designed for a wide audience of specialists, development practitioners, decision makers and the informed public. Papers are available in English and/or French, and summaries are available in both languages. Healthy Diets, costs and food policies in the Sahel and West Africa analyses the costs of healthy diets in 17 countries in the Sahel and West Africa and which food groups drive up costs. The observed high cross-country variability in costs and cost composition points to a need for more targeted and nutrition-sensitive food system policies as well as the need to invest in better food price data and monitoring capacities. City shapes and climate change in Africa analyses the consequences of less compact agglomerations for sustainability and liveability. The disadvantages include higher energy demand, less accessibility to services and opportunities, less walkable urban landscapes and greater car dependency, in addition to higher outdoor air pollution. It also considers the potential trade-offs with resilience; for example, compactness can lead to a loss of green space and an increase of urban heat island effects.

OUR WEBSITE SWAC’s website is our most comprehensive platform. It gathers all our resources together and it is organised by topic (food security, food systems, security, and cities and urbanisation) and by type of resource. Content is available in English and French.

OUR DATA PLATFORMS Africapolis is our research and data visualisation tool used to map, analyse and understand urbanisation and urban growth in Africa. Africapolis has been designed to provide, for the first time, a standardised and geospatial database on urbanisation dynamics in Africa. It includes 7,496 small towns and intermediary cities between 10,000 and 300,000 inhabitants from the 54 African countries. Content is available in English and French. Mapping territorial transformations in Africa (MAPTA) is SWAC’s interactive platform, identifying the territorial transformations the region is facing, particularly focusing on several topics: security, climate and gender. The resources are available in English and French.

Food-security.net provides analyses, reports, data and maps on food and nutrition security (FNS), produced in collaboration with key regional actors (CILSS, ECOWAS and UEMOA) and other stakeholders of the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA). It is co-facilitated with CILSS and resources are available in English and French.

OTHER PRODUCTS The policy briefs provide recommendations on the food and nutrition insecurity that the Sahel and West Africa region is facing. They also highlight major implications for regional organisations (ECOWAS, UEMOA, CILSS). They are available in both languages.

Media contacts: lia.beyeler@oecd.org, preeya.khongwir@oecd.org, rosa.serpico@oecd.org, swac.contact@oecd.org

SAHEL AND WEST AFRICA

PRESS KIT

Club Secretariat

www.oecd.org/swac/about/news

The podcast series Women Leading Change tells the stories of women as civil society actors, activists, authors, leaders, health and humanitarian workers, youth representatives, traders and entrepreneurs. We gather first-hand examples of their outstanding work within local communities as well as their important contributions to advancing gender equality and positive change. These conversations also aim to better connect SWAC’s evidence-based analysis with civil society advocacy and action through dialogue and knowledge exchange. Episodes are recorded regularly in English or French and are available on major broadcasting platforms: SoundCloud, Spotify, Google podcasts and Apple podcasts.

SAHEL AND WEST AFRICA

MAPS&FACTS

Club Secretariat

www.oecd.org/swac/maps, no. 116, 07/2023

RISING CEREAL PRICES COMPLICATE THE FOOD EQUATION IN THE SAHEL AND WEST AFRICA Change in consumer prices compared with the 5-year average for the main cereals, by country

Imported rice

Wheat

13%

32%

CABO VERDE

Imported rice

Maize

27%

41%

MAURITANIA

Imported rice

Maize

26%

43%

Millet

MALI

10%

11%

NIGER SENEGAL

Maize

Sorghum

48%

50%

CHAD

BURKINA FASO GUINEA-BISSAU

Imported rice

GUINEA

13%

Imported rice

GAMBIA Imported rice

22%

Sorghum

33%

Imported rice

46%

CÔTE D’IVOIRE

SIERRA LEONE Imported rice

LIBERIA

132%

BENIN

GHANA Maize

33%

179%

56%

Sorghum

59% LEGEND

Imported rice

19%

Maize

73%

NIGERIA

TOGO

Imported rice

Maps & Facts deal with one specific fact, always accompanied by a visual element to help the audience better understand the changes happening in the region. The main themes covered are: food security, food systems, urbanisation, environmental issues and security in the Sahel and West Africa region. They are available in English and French.

Maize

54%

Maize

16%

Main cereal Secondary cereal

Note: Variation in main cereal prices compared with the five-year average. Sources: National market information systems, World Food Programme (WFP), FEWS NET.

Rising food prices continue to reduce the ability of households to access healthy and nutritious food, which is why they play such a key role in food and nutrition security. In April 2023, average food inflation was estimated at 22% in the region. This is essentially due to several endogenous factors that are seriously disrupting production and supply systems. These include export bans on food products by some gover ments, illegal border taxes and a fall in the purchasing power of local currencies in several countries. The impact of the depreciation of local currencies on food prices has been particularly pronounced in the countries of the Gulf of Guinea, with record increases compared to the average over the past five years in Ghana (179% on maize), Sierra Leone (124% on rice) and Nigeria (73% on rice). 1

By disrupting markets and driving up transport costs, insecurity and violence is also contributing to inflation. In the province of Yagha, in Burkina Faso’s Sahel region, for example, the price of sorghum rose by 254% in February 2023 as a result of worsening attacks, which reduced market supplies, compared with a national annual variation of 17% and a five-year variation of 54%. (Sources: CILSS (2023), “Impact de la Vie Chère et la Crise Russie-Ukraine sur la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle au Sahel et en Afrique de l’Ouest”; PAM-CONAGESS (2023), “Bulletin de suivi des marchés au Burkina Faso”.)

Contact: swac.contact@oecd.org This map is without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.

Our blog is hosted on MAPTA’s website; it provides the latest articles, videos and stories on the current challenges the region is facing.

Our newsletters/NewsAlerts are the best way to update our audience with the release of new reports, data, tools and events about urbanisation (Africapolis), food security (RPCA) and all the other topics (SWAC). Emails are sent out on a regular basis and in both languages.

SWAC IN THE NEWS (RECENT) • • • •

Urban centres boom as rapid urbanisation redefines the urban geography of Africa, press release, SWAC/OECD, 26 June 2023. Violence is predominantly rural in North and West Africa, media advisory, SWAC/OECD, 21 March 2023. The growth of Africa’s towns and small cities is transforming the continent, The Economist, 9 March 2023. Afrique de l’Ouest : La malnutrition chronique des enfants, un fléau passé sous silence, Agence Anadolu, 20 November 2022.

OUR SOCIAL MEDIA

@SWAC_OECD @AfricapolisSWAC

Sahel and West Africa Club/Club du Sahel et de l’Afrique de l’Ouest

OECD Sahel and West Africa Club

@SWACoecd

Media contacts: lia.beyeler@oecd.org, preeya.khongwir@oecd.org, rosa.serpico@oecd.org, swac.contact@oecd.org