Food Across Borders: Improving Food Security Through Regional Trade In West Africa January 29-31, 2013 Accra, Ghana Conference Proceedings English version This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Abt Associates Inc. for the Agribusiness and Trade Promotion Project. Recommended citation: Agribusiness and Trade Promotion Project. “Conference Proceedings: Food Across Borders.” Prepared for the ATP Project by Abt Associates Inc., Bethesda, MD, February 2013. Contract/Project No. : EDH-I-00-05-00005-08 Submitted to: Danielle Knueppel, COR Agribusiness and Trade Promotion Project USAID/West Africa Accra, Ghana Abt Associates Inc. | 4550 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 800 North Bethesda, Maryland 20814 | Tel: 301.347.5000 | Fax: 301.913.906 | www.abtassociates.com In collaboration with: ACDI/VOCA CARANA Corporation J.E. Austin Disclaimer: The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) or the United States Government. Cover photo: Conference participants standing in front of Alisa Hotel Table of Contents Acronym List .................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Forum for Private Sector Action (Day 1) ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Public-Private Dialogue (Day 2) .................................................................................................................................................... 17 Public-Private Dialogue Continued (Day 3) ................................................................................................................................. 34 Annex 1: Accra Agenda .................................................................................................................................................................. 44 Annex 2: List of Attendees ............................................................................................................................................................ 49 Annex 3: Business Fair Participants and Company Profiles ....................................................................................................... 61 Annex 4: Private Sector Working Group Participant Lists ........................................................................................................ 67 Carleene Dei, Acting Mission Director, and Jorge Oliveira, Food Security and NRM Advisor for USAID/West Africa visit with Marc Atouga, ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources. 3 Acronym List AAFEX Association Africa Agro Export ATP Agribusiness and Trade Promotion Project CET Common External Tariff CIC-B Comité Interprofessionnel des Céréales au Burkina Faso CILSS Comité Permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte Contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel CIR-B Comité Interprofessionnel du Riz du Burkina COFENABVI AO Confédération des Fédérations Nationales de la Filière Bétail/Viande des Pays de l’Afrique de l’Ouest CPC-Togo Cereal Producers’ Confederation of Togo CTA Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation DFID United Kingdom Department for International Development EDCPM European Center for Development Policy Management ECOWAS ECOWAS Agricultural Policy ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States ETLS ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme FAO Food and Agriculture Organization (of the United Nations) FEWSNET Famine Early Warning Systems Network FUPRO Federation of Producers’ Unions of Benin GNP Gross national product GRIB Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body IFPRI International Food Policy Research Institute IRTG Improved Road Transport Governance Project LARES Laboratory for Regional Analysis and Social Expertise MELS Meunerie et Emballage de Légumes Secs MIS Market information systems NAFASO Neema Agricole du Faso OPA Observatoire des Pratiques Anormales (Road Transport Observatory) ROPPA Network of Farmers’ and Agricultural Producers’ Organizations of West Africa RECAO West African Agricultural Chambers Network (Réseau des Chambres d’Agriculture de l’Afrique de l’Ouest) SPS Sanitary/phytosanitary WAEMU Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine UOFA AO Union of Poultry Industry Organizations of West Africa USAID United States Agency for International Development VAT Value-added tax WAEMU West African Economic and Monetary Union WAGN West African Grains NetworkIntroduction Introduction West Africa’s trading environment remains in many ways inhospitable to regional trade in locally produced staple commodities. Obstacles inhibiting the free movement of staple commodities include seasonal bans and restrictions, export permits, irregular acceptance of phytosanitary and other certificates, and corruption at checkpoints. Freer trade would boost food security by allowing staples to move easily from supply to deficit areas and would generate income for the region’s farmers as they find wider markets for their products. Better trade conditions would also eventually reduce informal, “unofficial” trade, leading to more professional value chains and improved ability by governments to track potential revenues and understand production and food security situations. Evidence worldwide tells us that investing in agriculture—which now accounts for only 35 percent of West African gross domestic product but employs 60 percent of its population—is the best approach for generating sustained and rapid pro-poor growth. Given West Africa’s diversity of agro-ecologies, regional trade has always been important for the region’s population to meet its food security needs; in fact, West Africa is a region of countries that are interdependent on each other for food security. In 1990, the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) was fully launched to support further integration of the West African states through free movement of goods and persons across the region. Now, in 2013, food security and economic growth, two keystones of resilience, will be realized only if constraints to free movement of the region’s staple commodities—livestock, maize, millet, sorghum, cowpea, onions, and others—are lifted. Producers must be able to take advantage of markets across borders, consumers must be able to buy food transported efficiently and at low cost, and processors must be able to make investments that capture the advantages of regional economies of scale. Hosted by the Economic Organization for West Africa States (ECOWAS) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with technical and financial support from USAID’s Agribusiness and Trade Promotion project, the conference “Food Across Borders: Improving Food Security through Regional Trade in West Africa” brought together the region’s stakeholders in food security and regional trade: ministers, government officials, regional organizations, business associations, regional trade companies, farmer associations, financial institutions, and development partners. The participants developed a roadmap for improving food security through regional trade in staple commodities, leading to benefits for millions of West Africans. The three-part conference brought together public and private sectors to first understand the current contribution of regional trade to food security, and then ignite debate on obstacles and opportunities and forge a roadmap for improvement. The three parts, and their results, included: • Forum for Private Sector Action: Private sector actors discussed common concerns impeding free movement of goods in the region and develop a priority list of actions to reduce trade barriers. The output of the efforts was the identification of specific action needed in five areas of work. Concurrently, public sector actors met to discuss the same issues, from their point of view. • Public-Private Dialogue: Both public and private sectors discussed the importance and ramification of a regional, rather than national approach to food security. The dialogue resulted in the adoption of the Accra Agenda, which includes both the commitments of the diverse stakeholders to action, as well as specific actions identified for true change to occur. • Business Fair: Information exchange, relationship-building and exhibition by private sector partners, including producer groups, traders, processors, transporters, banks and insurance providers. In all, 31 exhibitors representing producers, traders, processors, input and service providers, transporters and others participated in this networking and publicity event. In all, over 270 participants participated in this colorful, unique event that brought together a diverse spectrum of actors working in regional trade in staple commodities in West Africa, as well as those in a position to advance trade and regional integration. These proceedings include summaries of the conference presentations and discussions, as well as the main results of the conference. They will hopefully contribute to discussion, debate, and actions on improving conditions for regional trade in West Africa – and thereby its food security. 5 Forum for Private Sector Action (Day 1) THE DAy’S CHALLENGE: DEFINING