Ouagadougou: 20 years of WAEMU agricultural policy Review and prospects

I. CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

The agricultural sector1 is one of the driving forces behind the economies of WAEMU countries. Over the past decade, it has contributed an average of 30% to regional GDP and generated around 20% of trade. It accounts for nearly 60% of export earnings and supplies raw materials to other sectors of the economy, notably industry and crafts. Depending on the country, it employs between 60 and 85% of the working population, is the main source of income for the majority of the population, and makes a fundamental contribution to food and nutritional sovereignty. Despite this important role, the sector still faces the following major problems: (i) the absence of an attractive framework for private agricultural investment; (ii) the poor structuring of agricultural value chains; and (iii) the low productivity of priority value chains, which struggle to ensure satisfactory production.

In response to the above-mentioned sector development challenges, in 2001 the Commission adopted the Politique Agricole de l’Union (PAU)2 , whose implementation is coordinated by the Department of Agriculture, Water Resources and Environment (DAREN).
The interventions of this Policy are structured around three (3) axes: (i) the adaptation of production systems and the improvement of the production environment, (ii) the deepening of the common market in the agricultural sector and the management of shared resources, and (iii) the integration of the Union’s agriculture into sub-regional and global markets.

This PAU has been translated into the Ten-Year Community Program for Agricultural Transformation for Food and Nutritional Security in the WAEMU (PCDTASAN, 2016-2025), whose specific objectives revolve around improving the coverage of food needs by national production (i), reducing the proportion of the community’s population exposed to food and nutritional insecurity (ii), and improving the incomes of agricultural operators in member states (iii).

Thus, after two decades of implementation, a number of important achievements can be noted:

• Significant improvement in agro-pastoral and fisheries production systems, with a timid increase in output: cereal production recorded average annual growth of 4% over the period from 2012 to 2019. This performance, unfortunately at the expense of yields, falls short of the Maputo targets (6%). Tuber-based systems are also recording average annual growth of 6%. Lastly, fish production will be around 880,000 tonnes in 2021, covering only 53% of minimum fish requirements estimated at 15 kg/person/year;

• improvement of the sanitary and phytosanitary regulatory framework and agricultural inputs, with the adoption and implementation of Regulation n°07/2007/CM/UEMOA on plant, animal and food safety;

• the development of agricultural sectors, through, in addition to the structuring of certain sectors up to regional level, support to States has enabled the improvement of infrastructures for the production, marketing, storage and processing of agricultural products: hydro-agricultural developments, storage warehouses (350,000 m3); livestock markets; rehabilitated abattoirs;

• the implementation of appropriate financing and governance instruments for interventions in the sector: Regional Fund for Agricultural Development (FRDA), Regional Agricultural Information System (SIAR), Regional Consultative Framework for Agricultural Sectors, High-Level Committee on Food and Nutritional Security (CHN-SAN).

Despite these efforts, an updated analysis of the sector reveals a more complex situation with repeated challenges to be met, in a context marked by the emergence of new, more existential issues (security and health):

• stagnating cereal and tuber production: cereal production for the 2021/2022 crop year is down 13% on the 2020/2021 crop year. Tuber production is down by one percentage point;

• a continuing deterioration in the region’s food and nutrition situation, particularly in the Sahel countries (Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali): Harmonized Framework analyses indicate that over 12.5 million people are food insecure during the lean season, between June and August 2022 in the UEMOA zone. In addition to the catastrophic results of the 2021/2022 agricultural season in the Sahelian states, this situation is due to a combination of security and health factors;

• the Union’s poverty situation is less than stellar: the latest analyses by the UEMOA Commission (2020) reveal poverty rates ranging from 75.5% in Niger to 32.6% in Senegal, with a third of the population affected in the latter country;

• the overall effectiveness of interventions in the agricultural sector remains a challenge: this is a requirement in the West African region, where a number of technical and integration institutions (CILSS, ECOWAS, UEMOA, banks, etc.) share the same objectives, but operate within different frameworks of orientation and governance;

• a sharp deterioration in the region’s security situation, which threatens to fundamentally undermine the very existence of the States and the Union, and jeopardize the achievement of the primary objective of our integration organization, which is the free movement of people, capital, services and goods.

In the light of the above, it would appear legitimate to question the effectiveness and relevance of the public policies implemented to date, in order to project the most appropriate ones, capable of raising the region’s agricultural sector to the desired level, with a view to effectively fulfilling the expected triple function of (i) meeting the food needs of the Union’s populations, who will be predominantly urban by 2050, (ii) providing jobs and decent incomes for the population, particularly young people and women, and (iii) making a significant contribution to export earnings.

It is in this context that the Commission deems it necessary to proceed with the review of the PAU, which must capitalize on the achievements and lessons learned over the two decades of its implementation, take into account the current and projected needs of agricultural stakeholders and consumers for services and goods, and create the conditions for the sustainable transformation of value chains and production and processing systems.

It is therefore proposed that the review of the PAU be launched with the organization of a colloquium on the DAREN’s fields of action, focusing on the one hand on the assessment of the two decades of PAU implementation, and on the other hand on the outlook for EU agriculture in relation to international agendas, while emphasizing the notions of market, income, purchasing power, availability and accessibility of basic services.

In view of the current situation, marked by the addition of four crises (economic, security, political, climatic) with multiple consequences, the symposium will focus in particular on the challenges of food self-sufficiency and the development of agricultural value chains.

The symposium will also provide an opportunity to contribute to the WAEMU Commission’s Vision 2040.

II. OBJECTIVES OF THE SYMPOSIUM

II.1 Main objective

The colloquium on food security and sovereignty is part of the process of taking stock of the two decades of implementation of the PAU, and will serve as a privileged agricultural framework for exchanging views on the achievements and analyzing the issues and challenges facing agriculture, with a view to relaunching the transformation of this important sector in the Union.

II.2 Specific objectives

Specifically, the symposium will :

• analyze the achievements and lessons of decades of implementation of the PAU and national agricultural policies;
• analyze the major trends and trajectories of the agricultural sector, and draw up forward-looking elements based on international agendas for agriculture in the European Union;
• formulate concrete recommendations for member states and the Union in relation to food self-sufficiency and the development of agricultural value chains.

III. EXPECTED RESULTS
The following results are expected:

• the achievements and lessons learned from decades of implementation of the PAU and national agricultural policies are analyzed;
• the major trends and trajectories of the agricultural sector are analyzed, and forward-looking elements based on international agendas for agriculture in the Union are identified;
• concrete recommendations for member states and the Union are formulated in the fields of food self-sufficiency and the development of agricultural value chains.

IV. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH AND THEMES TO BE ADDRESSED
The symposium on food security and sovereignty will take place over three (03) days. In line with the expected results, analyses will be organized around four areas of interest:
a) assessment of agricultural production and trade in the context of the implementation of the PAU over the last two decades: This will involve an in-depth analysis of the level of implementation of the PAU’s axes and the results obtained; the evolution of agriculture (production, productivity and competitiveness of plant, animal, fishery and forestry production) in the UNION ; the dynamics of regional and international trade in agricultural products, trends in import dependency, changes in household incomes, youth employment in the sector, changes in food and nutritional security, environmental and sustainability issues, and the need to adapt to climate hazards and change. Particular emphasis will be placed on the achievements made through the programs and projects carried out as part of the operationalization of the Policy. This point could be highlighted to explain their contributions to the changes (production, and others) analyzed above;

b) Analysis of the institutional framework and public policy instruments for implementing the UAP: This involves an analysis of the strengths, assets, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the institutional framework and public policy instruments deployed to support the implementation of the PAU. This analysis must question the functionality, effectiveness and efficiency of the political steering, technical implementation and consultation bodies, on the one hand; the scope of the reforms undertaken, the quality and quantity of investments, the quality and scope of the involvement of national and regional players, the degree and efficiency, even the sustainability of synergies with other IGOs (ECOWAS, CILSS, ALG, G5 Sahel, CORAF, etc.);

c) the scope and limits of agricultural financing mechanisms: Particular attention will be paid to the financing mechanisms in place, focusing on three dimensions: (i) the evolution of national budgetary resources devoted to investment in the agroforestry and fisheries sector, (ii) public support for agriculture, and (iii) regional agricultural financing instruments. This analysis, which will be carried out from micro, meso and macroeconomic angles, should also take into account the credit conditions applied by the banking system and decentralized financial systems to farmers, with a particular focus on family farms. It should lead to recommendations aimed at increasing agricultural financing in the region, and facilitating access to credit for the rural world in general;

d) prospects for agricultural development in the Union: this area of interest involves examining the orientations of the Union’s public action in the agroforestry and fisheries sector up to 2040, with a clear view to food security and sovereignty. This requires an objective analysis of the issues and challenges facing the agroforestry, fisheries and food sector, and more generally the region’s food systems, as well as of the areas or sub-sectors in which EU public action could not only be visible, but also effective in relation to the interventions of other IGOs. It will also be necessary to analyze the political implications of the choices covered by the recommendations.

IV. DATE AND PLACE

The symposium will be held in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) from October 10 to 12, 2023 at the LANCASTER Hotel, Ouaga 2000.

V. PARTICIPANTS

The following categories of participants will take part in this symposium:

• Member States of the Union (Ministries in charge of Agriculture, Livestock, Environment, Natural Resources, Living Environment, national agencies);
• UEMOA Commission departments;
• Union institutions (BCEAO, BOAD);
• Intergovernmental organizations in the region (ECOWAS, CILSS, ALG);
• Development banks (ADB, IDB, EBID);
• Organizations of producers, pastoralists, the private sector and civil society (national and regional farmers’ organizations);
• African and international research and development organizations;
  organizations facilitating multi-stakeholder dialogue;
• UN agencies in charge of rural development and the preservation of the environment and natural resources;
• International NGOs active in rural development, preservation of the environment and natural resources, and the fight against hunger and malnutrition;
• Technical and financial partners;
• Resource persons in DAREN’s fields of intervention, etc.

VII. DRAFT AGENDA

The conference will take place over three (3) days, with five sessions:

Day 1: October 10, 2023

Introductory session: It will include two major events:

(i)the ceremony presided over by the President of the UEMOA Commission, and (ii) the inaugural conference on the current issues and challenges of agricultural development in Africa.

Session 1: Assessment of agricultural production and trade in the context of the implementation of the UAP and it will comprise three major sequences

Day 2: October 11, 2023

Session 2: Analysis of the institutional framework and public policy instruments for implementing the UAP

It will comprise three sequences:

• an introductory session devoted to presenting the conclusions of the working paper, followed by general discussions ;
• group work to deepen reflection on three sub-themes: (a) the institutional challenges of steering agricultural policy, (b) agricultural and food policy instruments, (c) the challenges of structuring value chain players;
• a wrap-up session devoted to reporting on group work and formulating strategic recommendations. d. Session 3: Scope and limits of agricultural financing mechanisms This session will comprise three sequences;
• an introductory session devoted to presenting the conclusions of the working paper, followed by general discussions ;
• group work to deepen reflection on three sub-themes: (a) trends in national budgetary resources devoted to investment in the agroforestry and fisheries sector, (b) public support for agriculture, (c) regional agricultural financing instruments;
• a wrap-up session devoted to reporting on group work and formulating recommendations aimed at increasing agricultural financing in the region, and facilitating access to credit for the rural world in general.

Day 3: October 12, 2023

• introductory session devoted to presenting the conclusions of the working document, followed by general discussions;
• group work to deepen reflection on three sub-themes: (a) how to move from food security to food sovereignty in the Union, (b) what coordination and synergy with BOAD, BCEAO, ECOWAS, CILSS and the AU? (c) what areas of specialization are needed to make the most of UEMOA’s know-how?
• wrap-up session, devoted to reporting on group work and formulating strategic recommendations.

Session 5: Conclusions and recommendations. This session will focus on the drafting, presentation and validation of the conference conclusions, on the one hand, and on the official closing ceremony, on the other. It could be chaired by the President of the WAEMU Commission.