“Food Security and Cross-Border Trade”
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Cross-border Initiatives Programme Workshop officially launching a pilot operation in The Kano-Katsina-Maradi zone (Nigeria-Niger border) “Food Security and Cross-border Trade” Organised in Katsina from 19 to 21 September 2007 at the invitation of the Government of the State of Katsina Under the auspices of ECOWAS and the Niger-Nigeria Joint Commission for Cooperation By the Sahel and West Africa Club/OECD and the Famine Early Warning System Network / USAID In collaboration with The Niger Food Crises Unit The National Boundary Commission of Nigeria The Permanent Inter-state Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) With financial support from the Delegation of the European Commission in Niger and UNDP Niger, UNDP Nigeria 2 Index I. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES 4 1.1 Background 4 Cross-border issues in the Kano-Katsina-Maradi area, K²M 4 Political willingness to develop cross-border cooperation 4 1.2 Objectives 5 II. PROVISIONAL AGENDA 6 Wednesday 19 September: 8.30-11.00: Session I: Opening 6 Thursday 20 September: 8.30–13.00: Session IV: working-groups 7 Group 1: Improving information on food crop markets. 7 Group 2: Improving the cross-border movement of goods. 7 Group 3: Improve the cross-border movement of capital. 8 Friday 21 September: 8.30–11.00: Session VI: Framework and organisation of the pilot operation 8 III. ANNEX 9 A.1 Presentation of the K²M area 9 A.2 Cross-border trade and food security in the K2M area 16 A.3 ECOWAS Cross-border Initiatives Programme (C.I.P) 21 A.4 Note on agricultural market activities in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria 25 A.5 Permanent monitoring mechanism for cross-border agricultural and agro-food product flows in the Sahel and West Africa 26 A.6 The Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation 28 A.7 The National Boundary Commission (NBC) of Nigeria 31 A.8 National Mechanism for the Prevention and Management of Food Crises in Niger 34 A.9 The Sahel and West Africa Club – OECD 36 A.10 The Delegation of the European Commission in the Republic of Niger 37 A.11 The United Nations Development Programme – UNDP 40 A.12 The World Food Programme – WFP 40 NOTES 41 3 I. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES 1.1 Background Cross-border issues in the Kano-Katsina-Maradi area, K²M The K²M area is at the heart of the “Kasar Hausa” which covers over 83 000 km2 with more than 50 million inhabitants, between Nigeria and Niger. The three towns make up one of the oldest trade corridors, open for centuries to the Gulf of Guinea, North Africa and the Middle East. Linked by age-old social and cultural links, very densely populated and having a compact urban network organised around the urban area of Kano, this area illustrates Nigeria‟s influence on Niger‟s economy along the 1 500 km common border. Commercial trade is intense: cattle from Niger, Nigerian cereals and manufactured products or indeed re- exported products to Nigeria (Annex 1). Severe food insecurity situations were observed in Niger during the 2005 lean season. As a result, a joint field mission was carried out in May 2006 and strategic thinking was undertaken by the CILSS, FEWS NET, OCHA, SWAC, UNDP, UNICEF, WAMIS-Net, and WFP and an enlarged study on Niger-Nigeria-Chad-Cameroon by CILSS, FEWS NET, WFP and the University of California Berkeley. A first report (Annex 2) highlighted the role of cross-border cattle and cereal trade with regard to food security and the need to design and implement a Niger-Nigeria cross-border cooperation process on these issues. The meetings carried out since 2006 with government authorities, merchants, agricultural producers, livestock breeders, transporters, entrepreneurs and bankers confirmed the willingness of border actors to develop and structure cross-border cooperation within the K²M area. Political willingness to develop cross-border cooperation Cross-border cooperation is a concrete illustration of West African regional integration. Over the last several years, ECOWAS has encouraged the development of cross-border cooperation by promoting and supporting pilot operations within the Cross-border Initiatives Programme, CIP. (Annex 3). Three operations have been launched since 2005: in the Sikasso-Bobo Dioulasso area on the Burkina Faso, Mali and Côte d‟Ivoire borders; in Senegambia Meridional on the borders of The Gambia, Senegal and Guinea Bissau; in the Karakoro Basin between Mauritania and Mali. The Niger-Nigeria border area around the towns of Kano-Katsina-Maradi constitutes the fourth pilot operation to be officially launched at the Katsina Workshop. ECOWAS member countries, the governments of Niger and Nigeria officially approved placing the CIP within ECOWAS. There is also the Niger-Nigeria Joint Commission for Cooperation, a bilateral cooperation body that has existed for a long time (Annex 4) demonstrating their willingness to concretely engage in cross-border cooperation. Furthermore, both countries have a specialized cross-border cooperation structure: The National Boundary Commission of Nigeria (Annex 5) La Commission Nationale des Frontières du Niger1 (Annex 6) 1 The National Borders Commission of Niger 4 1.2 Objectives The aim of this workshop is to launch a cross-border cooperation pilot operation focusing on improving the functioning of border markets, rendering border crossings more fluid, enhancing the circulation of information, improving capacities for preventing and managing food crises. Activities carried out by populations and partners as well as discussions during recent field missions have provided the basis for establishing the workshop agenda. The following specific topics will be debated, notably within the framework of working groups: Information on food crop markets: improving dialogue and defining actions for data collection on trade flows and prices; the dissemination of information to economic operators, more effective call for tender systems in order to rebuild food security stocks, etc. Free movement: improving dialogue and defining actions in order to reduce the number of control posts on roads; setting up an integrated system to pay taxes and custom duties in one payment (proposal led by merchants and transporters); etc. Movement of capital: improving dialogue and defining actions in order to set up more effective banking mechanisms for transferring money; setting up local systems to combat counterfeit money, etc. For each of these topics, the objectives are to formulate operational proposals that engage local cross-border actors (public and private), the governments, ECOWAS and development partners. The workshop will also define the modalities of the pilot operation‟s institutional structure/framework. 5 II. PROVISIONAL AGENDA Wednesday 19 September: 8.30-11.00: Session I: Opening The details of this session will be presented to the participants before the opening. Wednesday 19 September: 11.00-13.00: Session II: Workshop’s objectives and approach Presentation of the workshop (organisers) Debates Comments: The idea is to have an exchange of views with the participants on the workshop’s objectives and approach. In particular, the working group’s “terms of reference” will be defined as well as the presentation of the outcomes of these groups. It is important that these presentations lead to the formulation of proposals. Wednesday 19 September: 14.30-17.00: Session III: Framework The achievements of cross-border cooperation in West Africa from the institutional level to the local level (organisers) Comments: After having briefly summarised the CIP’s political and institutional progress (decisions made by ECOWAS’ statutory bodies, drafting of a regional legal framework), some key achievements of the pilot operations already underway will be presented: setting up of a community radio stations network, creation of an agricultural producers network, improving conditions for cross-border movement, etc. Debates The border dynamics in the K²M area: results of field missions undertaken in the area over the last year (organisers). Comments: To be presented: - The origins of the joint mission, preparation and participating institutions; - The issues covered, results and the questions raised; - Comments and observations received; - Actions undertaken in order to implement the recommendations; - Presentation of the CILSS, FEWS NET, WFP and the University of California Berkeley study - The political mission carried out and the results obtained; - The technical mission identifying operational actions; - Other strategic thinking underway or existing opportunities to support, strengthen, valorise this dynamic (example CARIS with ECOWAS, health/nutrition sector, etc.). 6 Thursday 20 September: 8.30–13.00: Session IV: working-groups Presentation of groups and reviewing the session‟s objectives Reiterating the main problems raised by actors during the field mission Group 1: Improving information on food crop markets. Comments: The CILSS’ strategic framework on food security, taken up by ECOWAS and the UEMOA, highlights the strategic importance of food crop markets for food security. Dawanau (Kano) is the largest food crop market in West Africa. It influences the entire region and in particular the K²M area, notably through the markets in Katsina/Jibiya and Maradi. - How is information on flows, prices and stocks currently collected and disseminated? Do economic operators of these markets see a need to improve the information system, and if so, how? - The governments and food security actors believe that there needs to be a more effective system for collecting information on