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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.).

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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 flows and prices in order to better anticipate possible crises. The CILSS and FEWS NET/USAID envisage setting up such a monitoring system. This project will be presented within this group. Can the information produced by this system be used by the markets’ economic operators? Can these economic operators contribute to this system, and if so, how? - Are the calls for tender to rebuild national food security stocks accessible to the markets’ economic operators? - How is the dissemination of information organised? Can it be improved upon, notably through use of radio stations broadcasting in the K²M zone? - What are the major constraints faced (decision-makers, traders/merchants, producers and humanitarian agencies)? - What institutional provisions should be considered in order to improve the dissemination of information?

Group 2: Improving the cross-border movement of goods.

Comments: As in all West African border regions, there are numerous constraints to the movement of goods and people in the K²M area. There is a great deal of trade in contraband as well as security problems in this zone. These two elements explain in part the increase in control posts on roads. However, ECOWAS laws guarantee the free movement of West African goods as well as people.

- Is it possible to conceive, locally, a cross-border dialogue system bringing together public authorities and economic operators responsible for providing concrete solutions to this problem? If yes, how? If no, why and what can be done? - Is it possible to streamline control procedures of merchandise-carrying trucks? If yes, how? If no, why and what can be done? - Is it possible to disseminate more broadly ECOWAS texts on free movement? If yes, how? - What is the best mechanism or institutional change to set up in order to sustainably guarantee the free movement of persons and goods in the zones? - Define the role and functions of each group of actors.

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Group 3: Improve the cross-border movement of capital.

Comments: The Nigeria-Niger border is also a monetary border: the CFA franc is pegged to the Euro while the Naira is a floating currency. Nigeria’s Central Bank plans the convertibility of the Naira by 2009. In addition, due to the characteristics of the Nigeria economy and its banking system, the ability and facility to acquire capital is much greater in Nigeria than in Niger.

- How then to assure the movement of capital between both countries and supply the markets with agro-pastoral products? How to best exploit the agro-pastoral opportunities on both sides of the border, assure the sufficient remuneration of producers and livestock breeders and sufficient supply of products at an acceptable price? - What is the best mechanism or institutional change to set up in order to sustainably guarantee the free movement of capital in these zones? - Who must do what, when, how and with whom?

Thursday 20 September: 14.30–17.00: Session V: Summary of proposals

 Summary of proposals made by the three working groups  First conclusions for the follow-up of the process (organisers)

Comments: From the results of the working groups, the organisers will present ways forward for the:

- Finalising and implementing the proposals - Launching already-finalised activities - Seeking financing for activities.

 Debates

Friday 21 September: 8.30–11.00: Session VI: Framework and organisation of the pilot operation

 Synthesis of the work and proposition of a cross-border dialogue framework to accompany the implementation of cross-border cooperation activities  Debates  Official closing of the workshop

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III. ANNEX

A.1 Presentation of the K²M area2

An overview

The K²M area is made up of the states of Kano and Katsina in Nigeria and the province of Maradi in Niger.

Together, these three cover a land area of 83,000

Niamey Maradi Zinder km², a territory slightly larger than Sierra-Leone. It has a population of about 19 million inhabitants, Katsina Kano equivalent to the population of Ghana. With more

Zaria than 200 inhabitants per km², it is one of the most densely populated areas in West Africa. Abuja

Lagos Cotonou

An area with a network of dense and urban centres organised around the city of Kano. The area illustrates the phenomenon of the polarisation of Niger‟s economy by that of Nigeria, which can be witnessed the length of the 1,500 km border between the two countries.

This is the heartland of the Hausa lands, a vast and populous area of economic activity straddling northern Nigeria and southern Niger. Its industrial centre, one of the most important in Nigeria, is arranged around four major cities: Kano, Zaria, Kaduna and Jos.

Maradi Niamey Sokoto

Katsina

Kano Gusau Maiduguri Zaria Kaduna Jos The intensive trade that thrives here is Kainji

Abuja in agricultural products, especially in

Oshogbo livestock from Niger, cereals and Makurdi Espace Abeakouta manufactured products from Nigeria Ibadan Houassa

Ajaokuta Espace and, above all, products re-exported to Lagos Benin Epe Enugu industriel City Aladja Nigeria via Niger coming from Sapele Flux de Onitsha Umnhia produits finis Benin/Togo. Wari Oweri Aba Flux Port Harcourt Calabar d‟hydrocarbures Ikot Abasi Flux de matières prmières

2 Abdoul, Dahou and Trémolières (2004), “Maradi- Katsina- Kano: A development corridor?”; M.; Enda-Diapol, CRDI and SWAC; WABI/DT/21/04.

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A long tradition of urbanisation

A border territory in more than name, located half-way between the Sahel land and the forest, the Kano-Katsina-Maradi axis is at the heart of a region of significant agricultural potential. This potential increases the further one moves from the arid zones of the north towards the savannah in the southern part of the region. While the arid zones are suitable for livestock rearing, the savannah is particularly favourable for cereal crops and arboriculture. Such natural predispositions influenced, no doubt, the location of ancient fortified towns and city states throughout the Sudano-Sahelian belt. Looked at from this perspective, Maradi, Katsina and Kano have their counterparts in towns such as Sikasso or Bobo Dioulasso, which historically played a pivotal role in trade between the peoples of the Sudanese and the Saharan empires. The Hausa Kasar, like the Dioula territory, is both an agricultural area and an intermediate area between the coastal regions and the arid zones of West Africa. If geography provides the explanation for its development as a centre of population, it also sheds light on the variation in population densities within the Hausa lands. Besides the differences in rainfall and climatic gradient, the presence of much less deeply submerged water tables in the north of Nigeria than in the south of Niger explains the increase in levels of density along a north-south line. Thus, within an entire area which would appeal generally to settler populations, the southern Hausa states have for a long time attracted the majority of such settlers.

On an economic level, Kano and Katsina are very ancient stops on the trans-Saharan trading routes. Religious towns and market towns, places of meeting and of confrontation, they have always attracted merchants, pilgrims and warriors. The allegiances which united the Marabout tribes with the Berber communities which protected them reinforced the links between North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. They established chains of solidarity, in which the supply towns and education centres were the links. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Kano was already a major trading hub as well as a centre of Muslim learning and a stage on the route of the Haj. It thus bridged the Gulf of Guinea to the Middle East and the Mediterranean3.

The political and cultural homogenisation of the Kasar Haoussa has also spread from its southern regions. Besides language4, Islam has contributed significantly in bringing together the different populations in the region. The Borno princes were the first to promulgate the Muslim religion from the 14th century onwards, although the religion had been taught since the 11th century. It was during this time that Islam became the religion of the aristocracy, the urban and merchant elite. Islam and the traditional religions coexisted in the region for centuries until the start of the Jihad of Usman Dan Fodio in 1804. This date marks a turning point in the Islamisation and unification of the Hausa states, following a popular uprising against the local aristocracy – the Sarakunas. Under the caliphate of Sokoto, Islam was to spread to most of the Hausa territories.

Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, and also Zaria, Abuja and Kaduna, have historically formed the centre of gravity of the Kasar Haoussa – in urban, agricultural, political, religious and commercial terms – within Nigeria. From every point of view, Niger‟s territories in general and Maradi in particular have occupied only a peripheral position in relation to the north of the Nigerian federation. Indeed, until 1816, Maradi was part of the Kingdom of Katsina. After that date, Katsina was to be divided into “North Katsina”, comprising three districts of the Maradi region, and “South Katsina”, the larger part of the kingdom occupied by the authorities put in place during the Jihad.

3 These circumstances also provide a historic background to the trading route which links Cotonou to Tripoli via Kano and Agadez and to the economic exchanges with Dubai and Jeddah. 4 Hausa is spoken by 50 million people and has very few dialectal variations, making it the most spoken language in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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These differences explain the differences in population density between the southern regions of Niger and states in the north of Nigeria, as well as the variations in urbanisation between the two areas. While the Sudano-Sahelian belt is generally characterized by relatively high population density and urbanisation levels, although still lower than in coastal regions, it is most pronounced in the north of Nigeria. In this region, historic and geographic influences have, combined with the demographic transition, produced a network of secondary urban centres with no equivalent in the West African hinterland. The Kano-Katsina-Maradi axis, with Kano at the top of the pyramid, is the perfect example of this.

Because of its historic status as a trading town, densities in Kano have always been high, but its population, as in other metropoles in West Africa, grew rapidly from the 1960s onwards (at an average of 6%). From then on it became the country‟s second city after Lagos. In twentieth position in terms of area, the state of Kano is the most populous state in Nigeria (more than 9 million inhabitants in 2006), which is testament to its very high density in relation to other regions of the country, which ranges from 8,000 inhabitants per square kilometre in the metropolis to 856 in surrounding areas, and an average 466 in the State as a whole. Katsina itself covered just 17.5km2 at the beginning of the 20th century, but has now spread beyond the ancient walls of the town to cover an area of 60km2 of which 48km2 are built up.

While Katsina is a medium-sized town of around 400 000 inhabitants, the state itself has a population of almost six million which, added to the population of Kano state, forms an area of 15 million people. Leaving aside birth rates, these figures also reveal the level of migration from landlocked rural zones, including seasonal migration during the dry season from parts of Niger into Kano state.

In Niger, 75% of the population is concentrated south of the Niamey-Zinder axis, which constitutes only 12% of the nation‟s territory. In this context, the population dynamic of the Maradi province is closely linked to the development of the Hausa towns in north Nigeria such as Katsina, Kano and Gobir. The occupation of this area complied with the criteria of physical and food security. Thus valleys with water courses and the bush were occupied first. Demographic growth in the Maradi province has been rapid. Having 1 million inhabitants in 1977, the population had reached 1.4 million inhabitants in 1988, 1.7 million in 1995, and 2.2 million in June 2001. The average annual rate of growth is in the order of 3%.

For Maradi, which does not compare to any of the Nigerian towns in terms of size, the annual rate of demographic growth has reached 4%5. The density index for the district (64 inhabitants/km2) is taken from Dosso, the area which adjoins the border with Nigeria and Benin, and is among the highest in Niger, whose average is barely 26 inhabitants/km2. Dosso also has the highest growth rates (Guidan Roumdji with 4.9% and Madarounfa with 4.5%), but even within these areas there are districts where the rate is higher than 10%, for example at Saé-Sabaoua in Guidan Roumdji and at Safo in Madarounfa. There are several reasons for this concentration of people in the south: the historic population density in the Hausa Kasar, the soil fertility and the location of markets6. These high densities in the Hausa-Fulani region augment the demographic pressure in an agro-pastoral area already suffering from the incertitude of rainfall and drought in the 1970s and 1980s. In fact, this demographic potential which is common throughout the Sudano-Sahelian belt tends to favour urbanisation which, certainly in the case of Kano-Katsina-Maradi, is supported by trade between the Sahel and the coast and between Nigeria and the international market.

5 Tiffen, M., Profile of demographic change in the Kano-Maradi region, 1960-200, Working paper 24, Drylands Research, Crewkerne, Somerset, UK, 2001. 6 Ministry of Finance and Planning, Republic of Niger, op cit.

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Population and Cities States/Regions densities K²M In million inhabitants In million inhabitants Area (1000 km²) Density (inhab/km²) Kano 6.0 9.4 20 466 Katsina 0.6 5.8 24 239 Maradi 0.2 2.5 39 64 Total 6.8 17.7 83 228 Source : Direction nationale des ressources animales - Maradi (Niger)

Urbanisation is probably the most significant process of change affecting the West African economy. “It is progressing according to a „preindustrial‟ model, in the sense that the migration towards the towns is not a reflection of the need for an industrial workforce in the urban setting7” but of strategies of division of labour within the popular (informal) economy of the towns. But while the urban continuum of the Gulf of Guinea is widely recognized and has thus been the subject of multiple commentaries both enthusiastic and catastrophic, secondary urbanisation along the Sudano-Sahelian belt has passed almost unnoticed. However, as the coastal towns absorb a large proportion of demographic growth, the subsequent growth in their demand for food in turn stimulates the dynamism of food- producing agriculture and thus the progressive urbanisation of the large inland rural towns.

While cash-crop agriculture has to cope with price fluctuations on international markets, the buoyancy of urban demand, particularly in coastal areas, promotes the development of cereal and horticultural agriculture in the savannah regions. The collection and production centres are developing its infrastructures such as produce warehousing and other transhipment points eventually becoming market towns stimulating growth of their hinterland. Just as the increase in rural revenues prompts an increase in urban activity (for example, in construction), the production of agricultural equipment, transport and storage infrastructures encourages rural activity.

In the case of the Kano-Katsina-Maradi area, however, the development of a very compact network of secondary towns is not only linked to coastal urbanisation, but also to the existence of a relatively ancient urban network and to the presence of a major metropolis the only one in the region‟s interior which could be compared to cities such as Lagos, Accra, Abidjan, etc. Kano is undeniably the engine of local economic development and at the centre of regional and international trade, agricultural production and livestock farming. Demand from Kano, the source of income for rural communities, is also promoting the transformation of agricultural production.

New modes of production are being established, particularly in Nigeria, driven by demographic growth and urbanisation: “while subsistence agriculture was, until very recently, the principal mode of agro-pastoral production in the Sahel area besides cash crop farming (groundnuts, cotton), the regional trade economy is developing”8. Urbanisation also underpins the development of local processing industries. Kano is where 98% of the state‟s industries are located (mainly food processing units, tanneries, textiles factories, plastic products and packaging industries, sugar refineries or metallurgical plants)9.

In the Maradi region, agricultural land is being bought by traders or urban economic operators. A new class of agricultural wage labourers, made up of rural dwellers that no

7 Arnaud M., Op cit. 8 Arnaud M. Réflexions sur le concept de „pays-frontière‟ et l‟intégration régionale, Coll. Ed. Wabi. CSAO/ENDA-Diapol, June 2003. 9 Ayodele Ariyo J., Voh J.P., Ahmed B., Long-term change in food provisioning and marketing in the Kano region, 1960-2000, Working paper 34, Drylands Research, Crewkerne, Somerset, UK, 2001.

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longer have the means to develop their own land, is developing. The peasant economy is being monetised and “despite the absence of dense networks of banking and financial institutions, its integration is accelerating thanks to the dynamism of Hausa traders whose networks of intermediaries and intra- and extra-regional connections encompass all aspects of economic activity in the region”10. Maradi‟s urban economy depends upon exchanges with Nigeria and is focused on trading activity. Processing industries are under-developed here: the old agri-food industrial unities have closed in the face of competition from Nigeria. The district has not benefited from any structural development of its economy and continues to support poorly developed agro-pastoral production. One may draw a distinction between two categories of trader – those who either invest in the traditional and still lucrative trade of re- export or those who diversify. The latter category includes certain young traders whose primary interest is the export of agricultural products.

The Kano-Katsina-Maradi area illustrates what the WALTPS study described as a spatial reorganisation of rural populations who move towards urban markets. “The urban vision of the year 2020 makes the hypothesis that national urban systems, encouraged to be autonomous after independence, will tend to integrate into a small number of sub-regional systems, each one clustering around a metropolis which will exert its influence beyond national borders”. This is a perfect description of the dynamics observed around Kano, which are further reinforced by the divide in Nigeria (particularly in the north) between the federal government and the states. The urban economy depends, in part, upon the informal sector, which feeds on abundant availability of labour and contributes to the accumulation of capital necessary for the creation of “intermediate” businesses. This process is set to continue, given the geographic concentration of economic activity and population endowing the Kano- Katsina-Maradi axis with a development potential similar to that of the Gulf of Guinea regions.

Agricultural revolution and industrial take-off?

Kano has long been the interface of trade between North Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, and even Central Africa. Though it still maintains this position, it has refocused since the 1980s on parallel trade between Nigeria and its neighbouring countries.

Goods from world markets arriving in Kano are instantly divided between different wholesalers, and their onward distribution commences. Goods are initially stored in warehouses and then sold to retailers at varying speeds depending on their credit facilities or their ability to pay in cash. Kano acts as a distribution centre for the whole of the north of the country and beyond. A large proportion of consumption goods imported into Nigeria pass first through Kano before being distributed around the country. This is all the more remarkable given that Kano also remains the Federation‟s epicentre of primary production and industrial processing (notably in the agri-food sector).

10 Ministry of Finance and Planning, Republic of Niger, Op cit.

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The market network

The concentration of commercial activity around a crowded network of markets is an old pattern. For some trading centres, such as Zinder or Konni in Niger and Madou, Illéla and Kamba in Nigeria, such concentration dates from the time of trans-Saharan trade. These focal markets attract merchants from considerable distance as well as from their surrounding areas thanks to their links with a host of periodic markets. Covering vast areas of several hundred square kilometres, they act as centres of supply and of import-export: Zinder, Maradi, Konni, Katsina, Daura, Kano. The Hausa lands are fully networked by communication routes which link market and entrepôt cities and transhipment points or periodic market villages. The LARES11 has set out a typology of markets according to their specific functions in the system as a whole. The different categories of markets are:

 Collection markets located in the production zones in the north of Nigeria: In Katsina state – Bakori, Dandume, Danja, Tsiga, Sheme; in Kaduna state – Giwa and Makarfi; in Kano, Sundu  Grouping markets: Kano, Kaduna, Zaria, Funtua, Gusau, Maiduguri.  Transit or border markets, e.g., Jibia, Illela, Kamba, Maiadua, Maigatari Mubi, Kerawa, Baga and Malanville, to list the most important.  Consumption markets such as Lagos, Cotonou, Niamey, Maradi, Zinder and Ndjamena and those in north Cameroon.

This list is obviously not an exhaustive one. Between Gaya and Diffa, along the 1,500km border between Niger and Nigeria, there are around 100 border markets. Moreover, the labelling functions of a market do not preclude it playing other roles. Jibia, for example, is a transit market but also a grouping market. It shares this dual role with other cereal markets in Katsina state, namely Dandume, Dutsinma, Charanchi, Yarganchi and Batsari. Customers come from Niamey to buy at the border markets. Guribi, Matameye and Madaou are also collection markets and markets of transit to other large urban centres in Nigeria. There is a permanent connection between the market and entrepôt cities and transhipment points or periodic market villages. From the west to the east, lorries and other vehicles regularly ply three great highways:

 The Konni-Illéla-Sokoto-Gusau-Zaria road. This route continues toward southern Nigeria via Jos.  The Maradi-Jibiya-Katsina highway, which stretches as far as Kano, Zaria, Kaduna, Abuja and Lagos.  Zinder-Matamèye-Daura-Kazaure-Kano.

These main roads are interconnected by secondary roads and several link roads which lead to villages in northern Nigeria and the production areas. The road infrastructure favours the supply of food to urban centres, the return journeys being used to bring manufactured goods to the most remote corners of Nigeria and Niger.

Generally, it is in the north of the country, particularly in the states of Kano and Katsina, that cotton, cereal and then horticultural production have been developed since the 1970s.

In Nigeria, agricultural production has faced crisis periods when oil and gas revenues were high, leading to substitution from domestic production to imports. During periods of falling hydrocarbon revenues the trend reverses. Between 1986 and 1997, export receipts – 95% of which come from oil revenue – fell from 27 billion US dollars to around 9 billion US dollars. Over the same period, the Babangida and Abacha military regimes prompted a withdrawal of international aid. Nigeria having no other choice than substituting imports from world markets with local production developed its agriculture. The policies employed ranged from protectionist customs policies to subsidies for fertilizers and irrigation. During the 1990s,

11 See working paper on “cereals and food security”.

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cereal output reached levels which were sufficient to cover domestic consumption, even allowing for the increase in exports to neighbouring Niger12. Millet, maize and sorghum, grown in alternation with cotton – and, to a decreasing extent, groundnuts – form the basis of the region‟s agricultural production. The production and consumption of horticultural crops is also developing rapidly.

Agri-food industries first started in Kano and then developed throughout northern Nigeria. The boom in production no doubt prompted traders to complete their range of existing activities – storage of and speculation in agricultural commodities, particularly cereals – by moving into preserving, packaging and processing. Millet and maize are transformed into flour and porridge using a variety of methods ranging from traditional and artisanal to industrial processing and packaging processes. Whereas in other West African countries more than 90% of cotton production is exported raw, in Nigeria a significant amount is processed into oils for animal consumption or packaged and sold to farmers as seeds. There are also many textile factories which buy part of the cotton fibre production. Groundnuts are also processed into oil. In tandem with this, the horticulture development is being accompanied by efforts to package products more effectively – particularly tomatoes, gum arabic, ginger and honey –targeting export markets. In addition, although production of drinks and tea in bags has a long tradition in this region, the production of pastas and noodles, which compete with imported brands, is more recent.

Industrial processing units are also proliferating in industries other than agriculture and food. In addition to its textile factories, the region is home to tanneries specialising in the processing of leather and skins, mostly imported from Niger. Most of the cosmetics and toiletries consumed in the K2M area are produced in Nigeria. This situation is in stark contrast to other West African countries which depend on foreign imports of such goods. Kano also has several assembly plants, including one to produce trucks. The video and DVD industry is also prospering here. Video/DVD players are assembled, films produced in Hausa and distributed across all northern Nigeria and Niger. Like the Indian film industry, actors who achieve fame in this sector are well-known throughout the Hausa cultural area and perform as far a field as Niamey.

In spite of the diversity of production in the region, it‟s most important industrial specialisation is still in petroleum derivatives, in particular plastic goods. This sector is flourishing to such an extent that it has attracted foreign direct investment from China. The area is a leading producer – and exporter for West Africa – of a wide range of products from sandals to mattresses, carpets, furniture and household goods, etc.

12 In some years, exports of millet and corn to these countries have been greater than 200,000 tonnes.

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A.2 Cross-border trade and food security in the K2M area13

Food security in Niger depends largely on cross-border trade in agricultural and livestock products with Nigeria. Without this trade it is hard to imagine how the Nigerien population could experience an environment with relative food security

Given Niger‟s recurrent cereal deficit, its food security in terms of availability depends on imports from neighbouring countries, in particular Nigeria. Furthermore, knowing that family production on average barely covers a few months of the household‟s needs, the ability to buy and sell is a decisive factor for Nigerien households‟ accessibility to foodstuffs. Lastly, the consumption of foodstuffs and children‟s nutritional state depend on their availability and accessibility, and are hence indirectly linked to markets and cross-border trade with Nigeria.

Besides the cyclical aspect of food security, cross-border trade allows countries to benefit from comparative advantages, to use their resources more efficiently and to increase their wealth. The production and marketing of livestock products shows how Niger is exploiting its advantages in this sector with the large majority (97%) of its production exported to Nigeria.

Agricultural Production

The availability of foodstuffs in the K2M area does not only depend on cereal production in this area (Province of Maradi, the States of Katsina and Kano), but also on production outside, notably in the Nigerian production basin and, to a lesser extent, in other areas of Niger such as the Zinder Region. The production of dry cereals in Nigeria14, clearly higher than the combined production of CILSS countries15, is the dominant factor as regards cereal availability in the sub-region. Local trade and cross-border cereal flows, being very dynamic, generally guarantee that the deficient areas will be supplied by areas producing a surplus16.

The prospects for cereal production in Nigeria and Niger does not only depend on rainfall but also on investments made, especially in Nigeria, including the subsidisation of agricultural inputs, available bank credit, and acreage cultivated. This last point is very important because agricultural farms adjust cultivated acreages in view of expected revenue, hence prices of agricultural products. For example, a rather low price for maize and a high price for cotton this year could lead farmers to plant more cotton than maize. Given the importance of cereal production in this basin, there is a need to monitor all these factors throughout the agricultural campaigns so as to forecast the availability of food stuffs in the K²M area and beyond.

Cross-border trade flows in foodstuffs

The quantity and direction of the cross-border foodstuff flows depend on several structural and cyclical factors17. Apart from the volume of agricultural production, cyclical factors which determine trade flows are i) the Naira/CFA Franc exchange rate; ii) demand for cereals, determined by agricultural production in Niger and Nigeria and, in a larger context, by economic growth; and iii) prices in Niger and Nigeria

13 This presentation is based on Food security and cross-border trade in the Kano-Katsina-Maradi (K2M) corridor: CILSS / SWAC / FEWS NET / OCHA / WFP / WAMIS net / UNICEF, joint mission report; WABI DT/30/06 14 24 million tons in 2006. 15 15 million tons in 2006. 16 See the document, “Niger, cereals markets profile”; WFP 2005. (www.wfp.org/operations/Emergency_needs) 17 See chapter 1 of the joint mission report.

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Since the end of 2003, the exchange rate stabilized in a band between 250–275 Naira for 1 000 CFA Franc. Before, annual depreciation was high, 14% on average, whereas in 2004 and 2005 it was more modest, at approximately 7% (see Figure below). This is advantageous for Niger‟s imports, but disadvantageous for the exportation of livestock and cowpeas to Nigeria. However, it is probable that prices in the two countries and at many levels (farmer, collector, consumer) adapt to the exchange rate making it difficult to know who is profiting and who is not. Today, after a slight appreciation of the Naira in 2006, the exchange rate is at similar levels as in May 2005, at 265 Naira for 1 000 CFA Franc.

The evolution of the Naïra/CFA Franc exchange rate on the parallel market of Jibiya (a)

a: an increase shown in the figure corresponds to a depreciation in the value of the Naïra. b: during the field mission in May 2007. Source: SIMA, Niger

Concerning dry cereals, especially millet and maize, and to a lesser extent sorghum, Niger in general and the region of Maradi in particular, regularly import from Nigeria to balance the deficit in domestic supply. Cross-border flows of cereals are difficult to quantify because, unlike the trade in livestock, they are not subjected to custom registration procedures at borders.

Nevertheless it can be estimated that some hundred thousand tons of cereals cross the border between the two countries each year, the majority of which - but not exclusively – from Nigeria to Niger. Some estimates talk of around 200,000 tons of Nigerian millet and maize having been sold in Niger18 each year during the 1990s, underlining the importance of Nigerian imports. Despite a diversification of Niger‟s sources of cereal supply Nigeria remains its major supplier of imports (the case during years of satisfactory cereal production in Nigeria).

In contrast, in 2005, there were exports from Niger to Nigeria. Traders based in Jibiya confirmed that Nigerien millet was sold in small quantities (one to two tons a week) on the Jibiya market during the pre-planting/pre-lean season (April), before the closure of borders by the Niger government. Also traders in Dawanau confirmed that at the beginning of the 2005 marketing season, they bought cereals at Maradi, attested by traders in Tounfafi

18 Sahel and West Africa Club/OECD (2001), “Prospects for trade between Nigeria and its neighbours”, Paris, OECD,.

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(Madoua, Niger).

According to official data (DPV, monitoring system of the Niger Government), only 5 trucks transporting maize, 10 loaded with sorghum and 35 carrying millet, supposedly left Nigeria for Niger, passing through Dan Issa in 2006. In addition, the data for previous years, especially since 2001/2002 seems negligible in view of the intensity of the commercial activity at the borders.

The insufficient recording of cross-border trade flows - which are mostly informal, whereas the data collection system remains official - makes it impossible to estimate the quantity of imported and exported products. The lack of reliable data on these transactions for the Niger early warning system (EWS) makes it impossible foresee an availability problem that can occur as a result of exports to Nigeria.

Markets

The southern part of Niger and northern Nigeria form one cereal production basin in which markets are perfectly integrated and products circulate easily, sometimes even in contravention of national laws. The Kano–Katsina–Maradi corridor represents the axis around which the whole area gravitates.

The progressive integration of markets has benefited from strategies adopted by traders as well as through the reinforcement of regional integration mechanisms (creation of WAEMU, ECOWAS regulation on raw materials, etc.). Other factors also facilitated contacts and communication between traders: annual CILSS and MISTOWA meetings on trade opportunities in West Africa and the very rapid spread of GSM telephone usage. In addition, traders from Niger and Northern Nigeria understand each other perfectly, belonging to the Hausa area with 50 million Hausa speakers.

Socio-cultural affinities between Hausa traders and officials of Niger and Nigeria, especially those of Maradi, Katsina, and Kano constitute a major determinant in cross-border trade between the two countries. These affinities lead traders of one country to stop at the border and transmit their merchandise to their counterparts of the other. The latter will then take responsibility for transporting the merchandise to its final destination and carry out the necessary negotiations with national administration agencies. Without this “border-relay” road harassments would surely reduce the transaction volume. Socio-cultural links also help to explain the successful circumvention of regulations limiting cereal exports on both sides of the border.

Large traders from Niger have information on Nigerian markets and buy in Nigeria to replenish their stocks. The Nigerian traders on their part have effectively adapted their strategies to the characteristics and dynamics of the Nigerien market, thus competing with Maradi traders during the harvest period and stocking some of the cereals in the city of Maradi in anticipation of the lean season19.

Traders on the Dawanau market evaluate the harvest each year in September/October in order to plan their purchases. If there are substantially deficient areas in the sub-region, arbitrage opportunities exist and traders buy significant quantities of cereal. During good production years opportunities for arbitrage are limited. They therefore decide to buy and stock less cereal. In this case a large part of cereal stocks in Nigeria is still at collection regions, either in collectors‟ warehouses or with producers.

The cereal markets function largely on speculation. However, this does not mean that they

19 Sometimes also referred to as “hunger” season.

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are only controlled by unscrupulous, voracious traders, on the contrary. Traders can also incur significant losses as a result of unpredictable price movements during some years. They are far from being the only ones responsible for this situation. The absence of credit for agricultural production in many countries - especially in Niger – also points to the responsibility of banks and governments.

In actual fact, the root cause of the problems lies within the chronic vulnerability to climatic hazards, underlining the absence of investments in production and the absence of information that disrupt the market functioning.

Food security

Food security of populations in the area is increasingly determined by accessibility and nutritional aspects. Concerning the latter, meat and its by-products and especially poultry products and eggs, have a growing importance for the satisfaction of nutritional needs, particularly those of poor households. They constitute the main source of animal protein intake and in addition an important source of revenue for the poor.

Accessibility depends on prices and revenues and consequently, for a large part of the population (especially in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas of northern Niger) on the terms of trade between livestock and cereals.

Terms of trade millet/goat Price in FCFA kg 30,000 180 Millet Goat kg millet/goat 25,000 150 average price goat 20,000 120

15,000 90

10,000 60

5,000 30

0 0

Jul-04 Jul-05 Jan-04 Mar-04 May-04 Sep-04 Nov-04 Jan-05 Mar-05 May-05 Sep-05 Nov-05 Jan-06

Source: DRPA; SIM

As shown by the above figure, it is with the start of the lean season (May) that prices of cereals and livestock begin to diverge and terms of trade deteriorate for livestock rearers. During crisis years, like 2005, the sharp increase in the price of cereals combined with a decline in livestock prices – due to a lack of grazing lands and hence lower weight and quality of animals - translates into the need to increase the sale of livestock to satisfy food needs. The multiplier effect which results from the supply and demand disequilibrium (because of too high supply20) reinforces the decline in prices for livestock and starts a domino effect.

This weakness of the livestock sector vis-à-vis the cereal sector rests on structural factors and bad valorisation. The structural factors of the vulnerability of nomadic rearing, dominant form of rearing in Niger, are: climatic hazards (strong inter-annual variations of rainfall) which

20 In 2005, in Niger, the various types of livestock supplied increased 22% over 2004, but sales increased by only 10%.

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are more pronounced in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas; lack of fodder to make up for non- available pasture during difficult years; distance to consumption markets (animals lose in value, in the best of cases, during the long commercialisation circuits, in particular due to lack of adequate infrastructures). These factors also result in a heightened general vulnerability of the animals raised.

In addition, the long-term effects of crisis periods which can lead to a reduction in herd size and/or the sale of reproductive animals are in fact more important in the absence of credit facilities and support for reconstituting herds.

An analysis of the food security situation taking into account the interactions between the two sectors - which influence the fixing of respective prices and exercise mutual multiplier effects - seems therefore essential. The absence of information on cross-border trade flows represents an important gap to be filled

The importance of the livestock sector to food security should be taken into account in the formulation of food security strategies. An initiative to improve the circulation and marketing of livestock towards Nigeria, major market for Nigerien production, constitutes an interesting option to improve food security.

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A.3 ECOWAS Cross-border Initiatives Programme (C.I.P)

Origin of the C.I.P

In October 2004, ECOWAS hosted the West African Borders and Integration (WABI network‟s second workshop in Abuja. The Executive Secretariat‟s aim was to draw up, with fifty or so border actors present in Abuja, a Community policy unifying cross-border initiatives in West Africa.

Following this workshop, General Cheikh Oumar Diarra, ECOWAS Deputy Executive Secretary speaking on behalf of Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Executive Secretary, declared:

“ECOWAS, which started the regional integration process almost thirty years ago, has obtained valuable results. But much remains to be done in view of new realities on the ground. Among these realities, we notice that border regions have become real centres of integration. A new local dynamic, thanks to the intermingling of populations from nearby towns and villages, now opens the way for new integration prospects (…). The determination and actions of ECOWAS member States and institutions are no longer enough. We therefore understand that populations that straddle borders have a place and role to play in the ECOWAS integration process. (…) As such, ECOWAS proposes to draft a Cross-Border Initiatives Programme (PIT) to bring localities of the Community closer together. This programme aims to promote border zones through concrete, feasible projects achievable in a relatively short amount of time.”

Following the Abuja workshop, cross-border cooperation was officially placed on the Community agenda and subsequently the memorandum entitled “cross-border areas concept or local integration” was adopted on 18 January 2005 by the Council of ECOWAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Accra. This text is based on the “cross-border areas” concept as described at the beginning of 2000 by Mr. Alpha Oumar Konaré then President of the Republic of Mali. Mr. Konaré wanted to see borders give way to cross-border areas: “zones of bonding, sharing and exchange, where populations on both sides of the border share schools, security posts, markets and health centres”.

The Cross-border Initiatives Programme is the modus operandi of this Community policy of cross-border cooperation. This programme enables ECOWAS to accelerate the regional integration process by increasing the number of local cross-border initiatives. The C.I.P. incorporates various sectors such as security, health, education, culture, agriculture, livestock, trade and transportation.

The C.I.P.‟s accomplishments include: the launching of three pilot operations in 2005, developing a strategy to capitalise on and disseminate information, and formulating a Convention on Cross-border Cooperation, already approved by the ministers in charge of border related issues and submitted at the next Heads of State summit at the end of 2007. Since June 2007, the promotion of cross-border cooperation is included in ECOWAS‟ organisational chart. Its implementation is included in the mandate of the Free Movement of Persons Department under the responsibility of the Office of the Commissioner of Trade, Customs, Industry, Mines and the Free Movement of Persons and Goods.

Pilot operations

The choice of border area is linked to already existing border dynamics or the long-standing involvement of one of the WABI network partners in this area. This process could be used in other areas if the experience is successful.

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Sikasso and Bobo Dioulasso (Mali-Burkina Faso Border)

Sikasso, Korhogo (Côte d‟Ivoire) and Bobo-Dioulasso form a triangular production and human and trade activity cross-roads. There are dynamics underpinning autonomous development in the three towns which are 400 km away from large urban centres (Bamako, Bouaké, Ouagadougou). Autonomous development relies on cultural unity: that of the Voltaic, Sénoufo and Bobo, with the Dioula minority (Mandingue group) with its long-standing presence in trade and power. Land planning, based on industrial agriculture and regional traffic, can be understood through the organisation of the cotton sub-sector. The crisis in Côte d'Ivoire does not impede the need to develop an integrated capacity to respond to the growth of the regional and global markets. The process was launched at the Sikasso workshop under the auspices of Regional Planning Ministers of Burkina Faso and Mali, co- organised by the Municipal Development Partnership (MDP), the SWAC and UNOWA21 with the active participation of the National Borders Directorate of Mali (DNF) in September 2005. The CILSS and UEMOA were involved with the process. An Action Plan was drawn up with 19 border activity proposals. UNDP Bamako and Ouagadougou are financing local technical assistance to this process (two facilitators) over a six month period as from January 2007. Due to the Ivorian political situation, the process only concerns the areas of Burkina Faso and Mali despite the demand by local actors to include the neighbouring area of Côte d‟Ivoire. Two activities were launched:

 “Kurumba” radio network was launched in June 2006 in this cross-border zone with the support from MDP. The project consists of joint broadcast production by FM community radio stations playing an essential role in the dissemination of local news. Two technical programme production centres (surveys, reports, awareness-raising programmes on vaccination campaigns, citizens‟ rights with regard to free movement, combating trafficking, discussion forums and mediation, etc.) are fully equipped. Six programmes have been co-produced by network members and jointly broadcast. A network charter has been drawn up. One General Assembly organised in April 2007 affirmed that the network needs to work towards financial and managerial autonomy taking into account that up to now all support has been funded by the MDP.  Strategic thinking on an integrated sectoral approach, notably the fruit sector (consultation workshop organised in March 2007 in Banfora, Burkina Faso between traders and local authorities).

Besides these two activities, a cross-border directory of administrative services was produced by the MDP. The Malian Government has confirmed their interest in organising its annual Regional Integration Week around the topic of border cooperation (Kayes, May 2006). Festrim (Festival des arts, rites et musiques du paysan noir22), organised in Banfora- Burkina Faso will be an opportunity to sum up the process‟ progress.

“Sénégambie Méridionale” (The Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Senegal)

The “Southern river countries”, the area, caught between the ocean and land, between the Senegalo-Mauritanian and Fouta Djalon geomorphological sites, attract a wide-range of peoples. Three linguistic heritages and administrative systems co-exist in this area. Recent migratory dynamics reflect the regional ambivalence between potential economic wealth and political tensions. The three economies making up Sénégambie Méridionale are still hardly integrated, despite complementarities of their production systems and wealth of natural resources. In partnership with the GTZ-Procas and the SWAC, ENDA-Diapol is the facilitator and major coordinator of this process.

21 United Nations Office for West Africa 22 Festival of arts, rites and music of black farmers.

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The pilot operation in Sénégambie Méridionale was launched at the workshop co-organised by ENDA-Diapol and the SWAC held in Ziguinchor from 24 to 26 October 2005 with the financial support of CIDA23 and the Austrian Development Cooperation. The meeting brought together approximately one hundred participants representing local associations, local communities, technical services, States, intergovernmental organisations and development partners in order to come up with:

 An Action Plan of 19 proposals aiming to initiate actions and exchanges;  A monitoring mechanism of the action plan‟s implementation.

Although financing could not be raised for the monitoring mechanism of the Action Plan‟s implementation, some local actors pursued their initiatives, in particular in the areas of cross- border security, developing production routes and border valleys as well as in the beekeeping sector. This dynamism of cross-border cooperation initiatives prompted ENDA- Diapol and the SWAC to better identify such initiatives in order to: (i) examine their feasibility; (ii) develop them; and (iii) support them:

 During field and political awareness raising missions in 2006;  Through an ambitious communications policy including publications, the Border Diaries magazine and the WABI website;  With concrete support for some of the proposals set out in the Action Plan.

Three initiatives were chosen contingent on the involvement of local actors:

Beekeeping Industry Professionals Network: Harnessing the industry‟s full potential and its re-dynamisation from production to marketing requires border collaboration among beekeeping organisations and between administrative authorities and decentralised technical services. Actors officially formed a network at a workshop co-organised by ENDA-Diapol, the SWAC and GTZ-Peracod in November 2006. Since, the beekeeping industry professionals have met again in Brikama (The Gambia) in February 2007. The meeting led to the formulation of a cross-border action plan emphasising joint marketing strategies, harmonisation of quality and prices as well as sharing available equipment.

Cross-border Community Radio Stations Network: The Community Radio Stations Network of Guinea Bissau, Senegal, and The Gambia (RETRARC – GUISENGAM) was created in September 2006 in Djalicunda, Guinea Bissau with the support of ENDA-Diapol, the SWAC and GTZ-Procas. It is made up of eleven (11) member radio stations. Joint activities were planned such as exchanging experiences, strengthening capacities of technicians and journalists, a joint editorial line on topics at the centre of cross-border issues. In Bignona (Senegal) in February 2007, the radio stations agreed on internal regulations, a joint vision and mission. Training for members was made a network priority. Capacity building includes radio broadcast production, equipment management and IT use as well as training with regard to the dissemination of information in post-conflict zones. Particularly concerned with the harassment to which populations are subjected while crossing the border, RETRARC radio station network members submitted a request to ECOWAS proposing that the texts of free movement of goods and persons be shared with radio listeners.

Festival of cross-border populations: Following the workshop officially launching the pilot operation, ASAPID24, l‟UFDN25, le CADP26 as well as The Gambian association Kartong

23 Canadian International Development Assistance 24 Association d‟Appui aux Initiatives de Paix et de Développement. 25 Union du Fogny Diabancounda et du Narang. 26 Comité d‟Action pour le Développement de la zone des Palmiers.

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Kabajo Link for Cooperation joined efforts and strengthened their collaboration in the border zone between Diouloulou (Senegal – Bignona Department) and Brikama (Kombo South - Western Region of The Gambia). The first concrete activity was to develop a production route between Diouloulou and Brikama via Koudioubé. Five hundred people worked on the route to prevent water from stagnating in large puddles through an ingenious canalisation system so that vehicles could pass. Awareness raising meetings on cooperation through cross-border community initiatives to strengthen security in the zone led to the organisation of cultural festival of cross-border populations in November 2006. The ensuing action plan sets out the creation of community initiatives to deal with the degradation of forestry resources, the desalinisation of cross-border valleys, the fluidification of road traffic between the two countries through regular consultations between The Gambian and Senegalese transport organisations, etc.

Concerted Management of the Karakoro Basin

The Karakoro Basin, the "great lake" in Soninké, takes it source from the foothills south of Assaba and flows into the Senegal River in Guidimakha (Mauritania). Along the 150 km, or 3/4 of its length, the wadi constitutes a natural border between Mauritania and Mali. The Basin extends over 25.000 km² (with 250.000 inhabitants). Situated in the pre-Sahelian zone, its substantial rainfall is favourable to agro-pastoralism. Streaked with numerous watercourses, moving around is difficult during the rainy season, notwithstanding the constant human mobility (Fulas, Soninkés and Moors) which has always characterised this area. Economic trade across the three borders (including Senegal) is centred on cattle, agricultural or manufactured products. These dynamics are intensified with the decentralisation and consultation processes underway on the joint management of the Karakoro Basin.

This cross-border land planning programme of the Karakoro Basin is a result of extensive lobbying carried out by the GRDR27 in the Senegal River Basin (Mali, Mauritania, Senegal) for over thirty years. It is based on numerous cross-border cooperation agreements and conventions linking Mali and Mauritania since independence. Finally, it contributes to new African sub-regional and regional local integration dynamics.

The official launching meeting in Nouakchott (Mauritania) coordinated by the GRDR in September 2006 was co-financed by the Comité Catholique contre la Faim et pour le Développement (CCFD), the SWAC, the European Commission Delegation in Mauritania and ENDA-Diapol. Its aim is to:

 Bring together the regional planning services of Mali and Mauritania responsible for cross-border issues;  Validate an institutional conception and implementation mechanism for this initiative;  Develop a concerted cross-border planning programme of the Karakoro basin.

A directory of decentralised authorities in the zone was produced and several studies were carried out on three topics to be discussed and presented at the second meeting in Kayes (Mali): infrastructures, natural resources and local economic dynamics.

27 Groupe de Recherche et de Réalisations pour le Développement Rural.

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A.4 Note on agricultural market activities in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria28

Since the end of the 1990s, the importance of markets for food security was perceived as a strategic focus for research and monitoring by several actors, notably the CILSS, the Sahel and West Africa Club, USAID and most recently MISTOWA. The 2005 Niger crisis that can now be labelled a “market crisis” reinforced actors‟ needs to understand market functioning and the behaviour of its actors and their impact on the circulation of products within countries and between countries, and on the food economies in each zone.

There are three important commercial trade zones in West and Central Africa which are attracting the attention of several institutions:

1. Benin-Niger-Nigeria-Chad-Cameroon 2. Mali-Cote d‟Ivoire-Burkina Faso-Ghana 3. Mauritania-Senegal-The Gambia-Guinea Bissau-Guinea-Mali

In order to improve data analysis and collection on markets with regard to food security, FEWS NET, in collaboration with the CILSS, WAMIS-Net, WFP, HKI29, CRS30, WVI31, the University of California at Berkeley and involved national mechanisms, are carrying out a regional study in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

This study has five objectives:

 Objective 1. Spatialisation of trade systems; from primary and secondary data, the study should provide a better understanding of flows and pricing mechanisms among markets and within the interior of the country and the region. This data will be used to develop commercial trade maps in the region at various times of the year, in satisfactory or poor production years and also to estimate the gross trade margins;

 Objective 2. In relation to the first objective, it should provide a better understanding of transport systems in each of the countries and the region;

 Objective 3. A better understanding of the private and public stocking decisions and systems at various times of the year, satisfactory or poor production, the stocking capacities and the link between stocks and food security

 Objective 4. A better understanding of market actors‟ behaviour notably traders and producers and the basic parameters influencing their decisions to buy and sell;

 Objective 5. Describe the key relationships that exist between various market actors; determine how the intertwined relationships through associations and informal networks influence market behaviour.

The work started in September 2006. Currently the data collected in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria is being examined. The study should be availablein October – November 2007. Once this project finished, it will be extended to other production basins with a view to strengthening the monitoring mechanism which is currently being defined by the CILSS.

28 Presentation by FEWS NET/USAID 29 Hellen Keller International 30 Catholic Relief Service 31 World Vision

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A.5 Permanent monitoring mechanism for cross-border agricultural and agro- food product flows in the Sahel and West Africa32

Background

According to statistics from various sources, trade of agricultural and agro-food products is very low, given the existing potential in the region. In many countries, the populations‟ basic food needs are satisfied from domestic production and imports from neighbouring countries or from outside the region. Within the West African region these imports are usually underpinned by age-old socio-economic factors. Other incentive factors encourage trade development: progressive economic and trade liberalisation, increasingly large population movements, development of communications infrastructure, and the emergence of private operators‟ networks/organisations, initiatives to build an integrated regional market within the framework of the UEMOA and ECOWAS and a greater use of information technology (IT).

Furthermore, up to now analyses by information mechanisms are mainly based on “price” and “quantity” data. These are collected from the interior of the country and omit the evolution and impact of cross-border trade flows on national prices and on food security.

In order to fill this gap the CILSS, with the support of technical and financial partners, has carried out a study on the setting up of a Permanent Monitoring Mechanism of cross-border agricultural and agro-food flows in the Sahel and West Africa.

Objective of the monitoring mechanism for cross-border flows

The CILSS‟ objective is to quantify cross-border flows of agricultural and agro-food products and providing States, partners and other market actors with reliable information on the evolution, level and composition of these flows within the West African region. It will also serve to support the information mechanisms in obtaining data for more complete and regular analyses of the food security situation, and provide information on trade of agricultural and agro-food products in West Africa.

Advantages of the West African region

West Africa has many intertwined information mechanisms on markets: ten (10) operational national information mechanisms on the cereal sector and three (3) on the livestock sector covering close to 600 markets and 50 products each week.

Process and status of implementing the monitoring mechanism of cross-border flows

 The background study proposing a monitoring mechanism of cross-border flows has been carried out by the CILSS in 2006; it was validated at a regional workshop held in June 2007;  A consensus was reached with other information mechanisms and market actors on: cross-border markets to be monitored, data collection posts on flows and organisation responsible for monitoring cross-border trade flows;  The products to be monitored: all products are regularly traded between countries;  The services to assist in data collection on flows: customs, plant protection agencies, Chambers of Agriculture and Commerce, certain wholesale traders, etc.

32 Presentation by the Executive Secretariat of CILSS, Regional support programme market access.

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 A test phase of the monitoring mechanism on selected markets will be carried out before the end of 2007 in 4 countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea). Markets have been selected on the basis of four criteria defined during a meeting held in August 2007: a) existence of an operational information mechanism; b) experience in monitoring cross-border flows; c) countries sharing common borders; d) countries having a currency other than the CFA Franc;  After the test phase, consultations will be held to validate the approach;  Extending the monitoring mechanism to other countries in West Africa.

CILSS Partners

In this initiative, the CILSS is supported by the Commission of ECOWAS, FEWS-NET, WAMIS- Net and the WFP.

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A.6 The Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation

Niger and Nigeria created in 1971 the Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation, the only institution of its type on the African continent.

The Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation was created after two Summit meetings: in November 1970 in Nigeria and in March 1971 in Niger between the Presidents Diori Hamani of the Republic of Niger and General Yakubu Gowon of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The two Heads of State steered their governments towards setting up a permanent legal framework ensuring effective and sustainable cooperation between the two countries. The Convention creating the “Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation” was signed on 3 March 1971 in Niamey where its headquarters were officially inaugurated on 23 December 1973.

The Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation is today an international organisation with diplomatic status. It is known for the coordination, promotion and facilitation of trade between the two countries and is an example of cross-border cooperation going beyond the traditional bilateral agreements.

The communities of Niger of the Dosso, Tahoua, Maradi, Zinder and Diffa regions living along the 1500 km border cannot be dissociated from the neighbouring Nigerian States of Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobé and Bornou. These populations speak the same languages, share the same culture and religion.

The Commission‟s administration works “to expand and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in all areas of human activity.” In fact, the Commission‟s work goes beyond the framework of simple economic relations: by implementing local projects, designing financing strategies and accompanying political decisions in order to facilitate their implementation. The sectors concerned are: transportation, communications, trade, environmental management and protection, energy, industry, health, water resources, combating plant enemies, security and border management.

Some of the Commission’s Achievements

 Supplying electricity to the Republic of Niger from the Federal Republic of Nigeria: In January 1972, the Electricity Provision Agreement was signed with regard to the Kainji (Nigeria) dam, under the auspices of the Convention leading to the creation of joint Commission and regularly renewed between NIGELEC (Société Nigérienne d‟Electricité) and NEPA (National Electric Power Authority). Currently, 90% of the energy consumed in Niger is imported from Nigeria.  Construction of connecting roads: Paving main international roads between the two countries by Nigeria except the Kongolam-Takiéta section financed by international development partners (regional ACP/CEE cooperation funds – European Development Fund). The Departments of Niger, Nigeria borders and States are thus all linked by at least one paved road. Only the road between the Diffa region in Niger and the Nigerian States of Yobé and Borno remains to be paved. Furthermore, thanks to decentralized cooperation, secondary dirt roads link villages and border markets.

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 Promotion of the telecommunications network: Linking of Konni (Niger) - Objectives of the Commission Sokoto (Nigeria) in the 1980s under ECOWAS financing; hertzian link of In article 4 of these statutes, it is stipulated Maradi - Katsina in 1978 (financed by that the Commission is charged with the both countries to a total amount of following responsibilities: 693 million CFA Francs) including a Maradi -Katsina telephone link of 12 a) Formulation of policies which will circuits; an international Niamey - facilitate full application of the Kaduna and Lagos (Nigeria) link of 24 principles set out in the Convention; circuits of which one for telex; finally, b) Collection, evaluation and linking the tele-visual Hertz band dissemination of information on proposals made by member states; between Maradi and the Katsina c) Promotion and coordination of joint transmitting station. research, projects and programmes  Management of Water Resources: The aimed at the development of the Commission obtained financing for resources of the two contracting parties; studies and projects, notably for the d) Liaison with the contracting parties on Niger River and 4 other large cross- joint efforts and to follow the progress border basins, namely Maggia-Lamido, of the execution of surveys and works Goulbi of the Maradi-Gada River, as envisaged in the Convention; Tagwai-El Fadama and Komadougou- e) Keeping contracting parties fully informed of its activities through Yobé. The studies were financed in the systematic reports which each 1980s for a “development strategy” with contracting party may submit to it; a view to the development of the four f) Drawing up common rules regarding basins with: 1.1 million USD from the matters within its component; g) Drawing up of staff rules and United Nations Development Program regulations and ensure their (UNDP); 0.4 million USD form the application; European Development Fund; 30 million h) Examination of complaints and CFA Francs from each of the two promotion of settlement of disputes governments. referred to it through conciliation or mediation;  Joint Rural Programmes: the joint i) Taking all necessary preventive programme of the physical, biological measures aimed at upholding the and integrated combat of water hyacinth principles adopted in the Convention in collaboration with the Niger River pending the settlement of any differences; Authority; in 1990, the integrated j) Ensuring implementation of the programme to combat desertification provisions of the present Convention along the border; combating crop and statutes. infestations during seasonal growth

periods. The aims and objectives of the Commission  Livestock breeding: In this sector which are in conformity with the principles stated in is the principal source of populations‟ the Charter of both the United Nations income in Niger and northern Nigeria, Organisation and the Organisation of African Unity. It is, furthermore, worthwhile the Commission created a control emphasizing that the commission is neither in framework for livestock health at the competition nor at variance with the aims and common border in order to combat objectives of other sub-regional and epizootic diseases. It also established intergovernmental organisations in West Africa. cattle control posts, markets and a cattle This Commission was, therefore, created by Nigeria and Niger to enable the two States path map of 1/1000.000 to facilitate the formalise the cooperation, which had existed implementation of animal health between them for generations. programmes and reduce conflicts between livestock breeders and farmers.

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 Health: Setting up a rapid information exchange system on the sanitary situation in both countries, principally to manage contagious diseases and epidemics in border regions.  Trade: To improve the long tradition of commercial trade between both countries, the Commission initiated the signing and/or revision of agreements: signing of a Road Transport Agreement facilitating the movement of persons and goods; revision of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and the Bilateral Airspace Agreement (BAA); to promote trade liberalization between both countries.  Industry: Carrying out pre-feasibility and feasibility studies at the beginning of the 1980s, with UNDP and UNIDO assistance, for an industrial millet and sorghum processing unit to be set up in Zinder and Kano; village mill manufacturing unit to be set up in Maradi; glass factory to be set up in Kano. There was also a preliminary study at the end of 1980 on the iron deposits in Say (Niger) and the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) to guarantee security of investments of Niger and Nigerian citizens in both countries.

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A.7 The National Boundary Commission (NBC) of Nigeria

The context of its creation

The main instrument that Nigeria has created for the purpose of defining and executing its new boundary and borderlands policies is the NBC. Nigeria shares boundaries with five countries: Benin to the West and Niger to the North, both, like Nigeria herself, member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); and Chad, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea to the northeast, east and southeast, all member states of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

As elsewhere in Africa, if not the wider world, the border regions or “pays frontieres” (i.e. areas and peoples in close proximity to an international boundary) along and across specific segments of the borders are characterised by a homogeneity of people, culture, land, flora and fauna on both sides. These regions further share the characteristic of substantial distances, peripheral locations and consequent marginalization vis-à-vis national and sub- national capitals and politico-administrative headquarters where the modernization processes are concentrated. The Western Yoruba, the Aja, the Borgu on both sides of the western border with Benin; the Hausa and the Fulani on the northern border with Niger; the Kanuri across the northeastern border with Chad; the Mandara, the Fulani, and the Ododop across the eastern border with Cameroon; and the coastal Efik and the Ibibio who share close affinities with extended communities in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea in the south- east, are all “cross-border peoples”.

After a period of recurrent conflict with neighbouring states, the official reopening of the borders on 1 March 1986 marked the beginning of a new era of improved prospects towards the management of the country‟s border regions. The necessity for a specialized state agency, which gave rise to the National Boundary Commission, was further underscored by the need to remedy an existing situation characterized by a complete absence of policy coordination. A situation observed on internal boundaries (i.e. between the federated states as well as between Local Governments and between local communities), which pose serious threats to internal security and development, and also along Nigeria‟s international boundaries. For example, up to the establishment of the National Boundary Commission, the different boundaries (segments) were placed under parallel authorities of different government agencies. Hence, Nigerian border regions as well as regional and local territorial authorities along the borders had to refer to different national agencies, without the benefit of a common forum for coordinated interaction.

Function and functioning

The NBC is a Federal Executive Body with significant powers backed by the Constitution. Its mandate is “to deal with, determine and intervene in any boundary dispute that may arise between Nigeria and any of her neighbours or between any two states of the Federation with a view to settling such dispute”. Created by Decree 38 of 17 December 1987 and formally inaugurated on 20 July 1988, the Commission is also enjoined to put in place mechanisms and programmes for the prevention of border conflicts and the promotion of cross-border cooperation.

Cross-border cooperation is seen as a priority in the enabling enactment which, inter alia, empowers the Commission to "set up Committees to deal with matters affecting Nigeria‟s borders with neighbouring countries, on political, economic or legal affairs or issues relating to development and security of border regions”. Cross-border cooperation is indeed an important policy tool for "matters relating to development and security of border areas." Presided over by the Vice-President and served by a permanent secretariat attached to the

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Presidency, the Commission has eleven regular members: nine ex-officio members (Heads of Federal Ministries and Heads of Parastatal structures with border-related roles and functions) and two non-ex-officio members appointed from the public or private sector by the President.

While the idea is not to infringe on the statutory functions of the member institutions of the Commission, the objective is to confer on the Commission the duty of border policy coordination and sensitization. This coordination of border policy matters is of particular importance in dealings with national authorities of neighbouring states. The Commission's policy-coordinating role is separated into two pillars: policy-formulation based on decisions taken during its meetings; and, more importantly, its implementation by the Commission's Secretariat.

Some of NBC’s activities

In the last fifteen years since the creation of the NBC, Nigeria‟s policy in respect of boundaries and “borderlands” shared with its neighbours has been markedly one of promoting international bilateral and multilateral cooperation and peace and sustainable development in support of regional integration. This approach has been followed since, in spite of the setback, occasioned by the militarization of the long-standing border dispute with Cameroon in 1993/1994 that was brought before the International Court of Justice at The Hague.

One particular feature of the confidence-building undertaking was a programme of joint border tours by Nigeria‟s Minister of Internal Affairs and his counterpart across each border, beginning with a tour of the Nigeria-Benin border in February 1986. Other critical features of the new cross-border cooperation policy regime (regarding Niger-Nigeria border) include the strengthening of existing bilateral and multilateral cross-border cooperation mechanisms such as the Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation with its secretariat in Niamey and the revival of the Niger River Basin Development Authority with Nigeria, Benin and Niger as three key member states.

Another axis of this policy regime relates to border region development, which had its beginning with the organization of Nigeria‟s First National Planning Conference on the Development of Border Regions in Lagos from 10 to 12 August 1989 under the auspices of the NBC. This objective has led to the creation of a National Border Region Development Committee (NBRDC) in 1990 as a sub-committee of the National Boundary Commission, under the authority of the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Chairman of the NBC. The NBRDC assembles the Governors of all the 21 Nigerian border- States (gateway states) as Members. Like the NBC itself, the NBRDC should have been represented in each concerned federated State and in all „gateway‟ Local Governments according to an agreed framework for sharing responsibility between the three government levels. Although there was an initial border region development fund, the need to substantially increase the available funds has led to the Establishment of a Border Communities Development Fund.

The third and final component of the new policy initiative is the remarkable achievement of the demarcation of actual boundaries. These achievements include: the approval of the demarcation work carried out in the Lake Chad basin under the authority of the Lake Chad Basin Commission; the resumption in March 1989 of the long abandoned demarcation work on the Nigeria-Benin land border and the substantial progress that has been made; the resumption of work on the demarcation of the Nigeria-Niger border; remarkable agreements reached on the actual demarcation of the Nigeria-Equatorial Guinea maritime boundary; and the resumption of negotiation of the Nigeria-Benin maritime boundary.

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On the regional level, in 1991, in a setting of increasing escalation of border and border- related conflicts in Africa, Nigeria reactivated a 1981 proposal, extended with a description of the NBC, for the establishment of a Boundary Commission within the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Unfortunately the proposal for a Boundary Commission at the level of the OAU did not meet with the favour of the Organisation's Council of Ministers, but each member- state was encouraged to follow Nigeria‟s example in its relations with neighbouring states. The provisions in Chapter 58 of the ECOWAS revised Treaty of 1993 for the creation of national border administrations by every member State suggest that ECOWAS had already embraced in principle the proposition earlier rejected by the OAU Council of Ministers.

Today, progress has been achieved: official launching of the ECOWAS Cross-Border initiatives Programme in January 2006; a cross-border convention about being adopted at the Heads of State summit and the adoption of a Border Programme by the AU in June 2007.

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A.8 National Mechanism for the Prevention and Management of Food Crises in Niger

Since 1998, Niger and its major food aid donors have been managing together a national mechanism for the prevention and management of food crises. The mechanism‟s mission is to contribute to reducing the food vulnerability of Nigerien populations through better coordination and management of various actors‟ activities by:

 Implementing food crisis prevention strategies  strengthening the capacities of populations to set up strategies in addressing possible food crises  Improving the coherence and effectives of public response to food crises.

The mechanism uses two main tools:

1. The Common Donour Fund33 (FCD), first level of available resources to address general and localised food crises. Its aim is to provide support to families in their coping strategies (cereal banks, labour intensive work for the regeneration of soil fertility, etc.). They also finance assistance activities like cereal sales at moderate prices.

2. The National Reserve Stock34 (SNR), used only in years of severe national or regional crisis in order to implement rapid responses to maintain populations‟ nutritional status while awaiting mobilisation of international humanitarian aid and national solidarity. With a volume of approximately 110 000 tonnes of cereal, the SNR is composed of:  A physical stock of 80 000 tonnes of cereal (millet and sorghum) called the National Reserve Stock, held in warehouses of the Office des produits vivriers du Niger (OPVN) assuring its adequate conditioning;  A financial reserve allowing the acquisition of 30 000 tonnes of cereal, called the Food Security Fund.

The mechanism is managed by the Joint Consultative State-Donor Commission35 (CMC). It is the coordinating body at the strategic level responsible for defining the “operations objectives”, ensuring the programming of funds and mobilisation of tools. It brings together:  The Government of Niger, represented by the Prime Minister and his services;  The Donours (bi- and multilateral organisations) that contribute to preventing and managing food crises. In 2005 the CMC brought together France, Germany, Italy, Swiss Cooperation, the United States, the European Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Food Program (WFP);  In order to implement the mechanism‟s activities, the CMS relies on national public bodies coordinated within the National Committee for the Prevention and Management of Food Crises36 chaired by the Director of the Prime Minister‟s Office.

The Food Crisis Unit (CCA37) of the Prime Minister‟s Office manages the CMC‟s Executive Secretariat. It monitors the mechanism‟s operations and handles technical coordination. In this regard, it coordinates the implementation of actions alleviating crises.

33 Le Fonds commun des donateurs 34 Stock national de réserve 35 Commission mixte de concertation Etat – donateurs 36 Comité national de prevention et de gestion des crises alimentaires 37 La Cellule crises alimentaires

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The Food Crisis Unit

Under the responsibility of the Director of the Prime Minister’s Office, the CCA’s mission, among others, is to coordinate the management of food crises:

 Evaluate food aid needs as well as procedures for food aid withdrawal  Prepare emergency food assistance requests  Follow food aid contributions, their implementation and monitor the coordination of food assistance measures  Monitor assistance implementation conditions and their compliance with international agreements with regard to, in particular, the consumption or monetizing of food aid  Assure the good functioning of the National Mechanism for the Prevention and Management of Food Crises  Prepare and submit to the CMC and the CRC proposals for food crisis alleviation intervention  Coordinate assistance actions implemented within the mechanism‟s framework  Compile, for each campaign, balance sheets of food aid received and activities implemented to alleviate crises by public or private operators  Participate in the formulation and evaluation of requests submitted by the Nigerien government  Monitor the management of resources provided by the Government and donors to carry out programmes and projects for the alleviation of food crises and contribute to evaluating their impact;  Assist non-member donors of the National Mechanism for the Prevention and Management of Food Crises in managing food aid operations;  Participate in the setting up of a national food crises emergency plan  Represent Niger in international meetings pertaining to its area of expertise.

The Food Crisis Unit works in complementarity with the Coordinating Unit of the Système d‟Alerte Précoce (SAP) and with all of the administrative services involved in the implementation of emergency food aid activities. The Food Crisis Unit is managed by a Coordinator who holds the rank and prerogative of the Principal Counsellor to the Prime Minister. His service is comprised of:  One unit responsible for emergency food aid;  One unit responsible for the Joint Consultative State-Donour Commission  One unit responsible for crisis alleviation projects;  One administrative and financial unit.

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A.9 The Sahel and West Africa Club – OECD

The Sahel and West Africa Club is administratively attached to the OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development). Created in 1976 during the droughts in the Sahel and initially focusing on agriculture, the SWAC has since broadened its scope of activities as well as its mandate to encompass all of West Africa. This region consists of the 15 ECOWAS countries plus Mauritania, Chad and Cameroon, linked through a strong geographic and human continuity.

The powerful demographic and economic changes that West Africa experienced have led the SWAC to concentrate on regional integration processes. Production, trade and settlement areas have expanded going beyond national borders; cross-border dynamics have become integrative forces. The SWAC monitors, analyses and supports these transformations and their perspectives.

The adopted approach by the SWAC‟s “Local Development and Process of Regional Integration” Unit, involved in the Katsina Workshop‟s organisation, is based on partnerships, the sharing of information and exchanges with institutions and local actors (field and political levels). Through the analysis of regional issues, one of the team‟s objectives is to contribute to the ECOWAS member States‟ joint strategic thinking process as is the case with cross- border cooperation. The WABI network, initiated in 2003 by the National Borders Directorate of Mali, Enda/Diapol and the SWAC, supports the promotion of cross-border cooperation as a driver of regional integration. This network encourages exchanges of experiences between border areas through the organisation of workshops and/or via its communications tools (publications, internet site devoted to border dynamics38). It also participates in ECOWAS working groups for the CIP‟s implementation as well as the African Union‟s Border Programme.

The SWAC along with its partners are involved in four pilot operations implemented within the framework of the CIP:

 “Sikasso – Korhogo - Bobo Dioulasso” Pilot Operation (Mali – Burkina Faso)  “Senegambia Meridional” Pilot Operation (the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea Bissau)  “Karakoro Basin” Pilot Operation (Mali - Mauritania)  “Kano – Katsina – Maradi” Pilot Operation - K²M (Nigeria – Niger)

One of its aims is to illustrate through these operations that by associating the local level and capitalising on border actors‟ initiatives it is possible to construct a concrete form of integration. In the K²M area, the SWAC combines its long term concern of food security with the more recent issues of cross-border cooperation.

38 http://www.afriquefrontieres.org

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A.10 The Delegation of the European Commission in the Republic of Niger

Background

Since its independence in 1960, one of Niger‟s first partners was the European Economic Commission (EEC) through the Yaoundé and subsequent Lomé Conventions. At the start of this cooperation financial resources allocated to Niger were mostly invested in rural sector development and road networks connecting the country to its neighbours and the coast. Niger has one of the lowest human development index in the world. Social indicators (levels of primary education, adult literacy and medical coverage) are particularly low. This has justified a gradual change towards increased support by the Community to social sectors (education and health).

The social and economic crisis at the end of the 1980s, has led to significant political changes in Niger via a strong commitment to democratic processes and the adoption of a veritable multi-party system. Shortly after the adoption of a new Constitution and the setting up of new democratic institutions in 1993, the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) has reaffirmed its willingness to continue and to strengthen cooperation with Niger focusing on rural development and food security, road infrastructure and the mining sector, education and health. These sectors remain priorities for the Government of Niger and continue to be sectors of concentration of European aid along with: good governance, support to civil society, decentralization and regional integration. Cooperation with Niger was suspended in 1996 and 1999 due to a disruption in the democratic process. After the 1999 elections and the return to normal constitutional life, cooperation resumed in 2000. The European Union is currently Niger‟s first development partner with regard to amounts disbursed and with regard to the diversity of sectors supported by Community aid.

This partnership is supported by the implementation of the Cooperation Strategy Document and the NIP (National Indicative Programme) under the 9th Economic Development Fund (EDF), signed within the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and covering the 2002-2007 period. In line with Niger‟s Poverty Reduction Strategy approved in 2001, most of this programme is carried out through macro-economic support.

The Mandate and the Delegation’s various missions

In a country such as Niger, the Delegation‟s most important and certainly the most visible task is aid management. Therefore, the majority of staff is in “Operations” and “Finance/Contracts” which are responsible exclusively for the implementation of various EU cooperation programmes with Niger. However, aid management is only one among many of the missions set out in the Delegation‟s mandate. Its missions are tremendously important for policy and community action in the world.

According to its mandate, the Delegation represents the European Commission in the Republic of Niger. It promotes and defends the EU‟s values and interests as well as all of the activities related to pursuing bilateral relations in areas such as policy, economics, trade and cooperation. In particular, the Delegation provides:  Information on the European Union‟s development and policies as well as the EU‟s role and actions in Niger;  Observing political, economic and social developments in Niger as well as monitoring the economic, political relations and cooperation between Niger and UEMOA and ECOWAS countries;  The management of external Community aid to Niger;  Support in the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations between the European Union and UEMOA and ECOWAS.

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EU-Niger Cooperation Strategy

Within the Cotonou Agreement, Niger was one of the first ACP countries to sign the National Cooperation Strategy Document with the European Commission, thus taking a new step in its relations with the EU. The National Indicative Programme (NIP) covering 2002-2007 under the 9th EDF was signed on 26 March 2002 in Niamey providing 346 million € (227 billion CFA Francs).

The cooperation strategy is the result of collaboration between the government, Niger‟s civil society and the European Commission, in particular it‟s Delegation in Niger. It is based on the principles of appropriation and partnership and supports poverty reduction efforts in Niger. It thus falls within the framework of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) developed by the government and ratified in 2001 by the Bretton Woods Institutions.

The NIP focuses on four areas:  Sustainable rural development and food security;  Transportation;  Macro-economic support linked to poverty reduction (education and health);  Good governance, institutional support and the strengthening of civil society.

Niger benefits from an “A envelope” of 212 million € (139 billion CFA francs) for long-term development operations which take into account the strategy‟s four components. A "B envelope" of 134 million € (88 billion CFA francs) is for developing the mining sector and supplementary support for any other exogenous shocks. As for sustainable rural development and food security, the objective is to help prevent food crises and diversify and increase revenue of the rural population. The EU supports the national food crises prevention and alleviation mechanism. It also supports agricultural production, securing agro-pastoral systems and creating hydraulic infrastructure. Within the transportation sector, Community support aims to assure sustainable investment in road infrastructure and the opening up of the country. Emphasis is placed on road maintenance, road renovation and building of rural passageways. The EU supports the Government‟s macro-economic reform programme with special emphasis on poverty reduction in order to assure non-discriminatory access to education and healthcare. Good governance and institutional support aims to contribute to redefining the State‟s role and improve the capacity and functioning of its services. A particular programme promotes strengthening capacities and financing initiatives of civil society organisations.

The Commission and Niger

Relations between the European Commission and Niger started in 1960, with the Treaty of Rome and the creation of the first EDF. In order to coordinate the implementation of the EDF-financed cooperation programmes, the Commission created the “Technical Control Office”. Between 1960 and 1967, the Technical Control Office PABST & PARTNER, headed by Mr. Benno Haffner, implemented technical and financial cooperation between the European Community and Niger.

In 1967, the European Association of Cooperation39 (AEC) took over as the official comptroller of EDF projects. The succession of official comptrollers (referred to as “Head of Delegation” as of 1975) in Niger were: Mr. Birindelli, Mr. Huys, Mr. Martin, Ms. von Bronchowski, Mr. Teissonière, Mr. David and Mr. Germano. On 9 November 1990, the European Commission and the Government of Niger signed an “agreement on the establishment of a Delegation of European Communities”, which formalised the Delegation‟s

39 Association Européenne de Coopération

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status as diplomatic representation.

As of 1992, with the Treaty on the European Union the Commission took on a greater role with regard to external relations. Within this context, the missions of its representations broadened and their designation and level of accreditation changed. Representation was hence renamed the Delegation of the European Commission (DEC) and the Head of Delegation is thus accredited to the President of the Republic and held the rank of Ambassador. The Heads of Delegation Heyraud, Baudet and Horejs held this status. The current Head of Delegation, Mr. Jeremy LESTER presented his credentials to the President of the Republic on 5 April 2005.

Since 2000 the reform of the European Commission, and more precisely the devolution of the management of external aid, has brought about major changes for the Delegation in Niger. In fact, between 2002 and 2003, the Delegation increased from 21 to 45 staff members, the Delegation moved to new offices. It has completely modernized its communication system, set up a new “Finance and Contracts” department, and assured that the staff was trained in all aspects of contractual and financial management of Community aid. In May 2003 this significant capacity building enabled the Head of Delegation to acquire a great deal of decision-making power concerning the management of community aid with Niger. One year later, this decentralization process which brought decision-making closer to the ground and sped up the implementation of actions, had already produced results. The 2003 review of EU-Niger cooperation shows performances never before achieved.

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A.11 The United Nations Development Programme – UNDP

UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. UNDP, through its country offices in Burkina Faso and Mali, has been a partner in the SWAC‟s work on cross-border co-operation since 2005. The UNDP offices in these two countries finance the Sikasso-Korhogo-Bobo-Dioulasso pilot operation of the ECOWAS Cross-Border Initiatives Programme (CIP). In 2006, UNDP Niger has become a key partner in the work on cross-border co-operation and food security in the Kano-Katsina-Maradi area (Nigeria-Niger). UNDP Niger and Nigeria are co-financing the Katsina cross-border workshop.

UNDP also supports, the National Mechanism for the Prevention and Management of Food Crises (DNPGCA). The overall aim of the project is to increase food aid effectiveness through the application of an agreement framework between Niger and the donors. It consists of providing assistance to the Food Crisis Unit (CCA), attached to the Prime Minister‟s Office, in terms of technical expertise, equipment and funding in order to centralise donors‟ contributions and allocate food aid to vulnerable populations as well as follow-up and evaluate crisis response activities on the ground. UNDP also supports the Coordinating Unit of the Early Warning System40 (CC/SAP), which along with the CCA makes up two branches of the DNPGCA. This unit is responsible for collecting, analysing and disseminating information related to food security as well as identifying actions to be carried out in order to prevent or alleviate food crises.

A.12 The World Food Programme – WFP

WFP is combating hunger in underdeveloped nations with severe food shortages. As the food aid arm of the UN, WFP uses its food to:  meet emergency needs  support economic and social development

Its intervention areas stretch from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East to Latin America and Asia and the Pacific.

The WFP is involved in SWAC activities related to food security. In 2006, the WFP participated in a mission with the SWAC within the framework of the initiative “Cross-Border Co-operation and Food Security in the Kano – Katsina – Maradi (K²M) zone” between Niger and Nigeria. The joint mission report analyses the impact of cross-border livestock and cereal trade on food security as well as the feasibility of a Niger-Nigerian cross-border cooperation process. The WFP also participates as an active member to the activities of the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA).

40 Cellule de Coordination du Système d‟Alerte Précoce (CC/SAP)

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55