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Trade challenges in the West African beef sector

10 August 2014

According to analysis from the University of Wageningen, West African governments are looking to support private sector investment as a means of promoting more intensive forms of livestock production. The analysis highlights the role of traditional pastoralists, noting that most livestock is traded intra-regionally on the hoof.

However, the Wageningen analysis observes that in countries such as Mali, “production of meat by pastoralists does not really contribute to local food security of beef”. Indeed, it argues that most West African pastoralists have only a limited interest in commercial beef sales.

The analysis highlights how, since 2005, ECOWAS has made a significant effort to “streamline regional livestock policies that hamper production and trade”, with a regional plan of action to develop the livestock sector approved in 2009. The Wageningen analysis questions the economic feasibility of certain aspects of this plan of action, linked to improving fodder supplies, extending insurance cover to livestock producers and guaranteeing livestock producers’ incomes.

The analysis notes that while “most countries in West Africa now have fairly effective sanitary corridors with control arrangements at border posts,” much remains to be done with regard to diseases such as contagious pleuropneumonia (CPP) and foot and mouth disease (FMD). It argues that in most West African beef production systems, “the cost of veterinary treatment other than vaccinations is high compared to the market value of the animals.”

A variety of ECOWAS-endorsed or supported initiatives have been launched to “ease formal border controls and informal (i.e. illegal) taxes”. Transport corridor-based schemes implemented in association with livestock sector stakeholders have enjoyed some success in reducing the number of unofficial controls and levies along intra-regional supply chains.

However, lack of traceability to ensure the hygienic processing and transportation of beef traded within the region remains a problem. There is considerable scope for improving the feeds used, the processing at abattoirs and cold store chain management in order to upgrade the quality of products delivered to final consumers.

At the policy level, the analysis maintains that, compared to the EU, ECOWAS policies “are not really figuring in the public debate”, with some analysts overstating the “regulatory force that ECOWAS might exert in driving greater local trade”.

In terms of international trade, the University of Wageningen analysis notes that SPS requirements established by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) make it hard to trade West African animal products onto international markets, as these have more stringent legislation dealing with traceability, which exacerbates the problems.

A possible area for effective action identified by the Wageningen analysis relates to the provision of greater support to the development of private regional initiatives and improvements in processing animal products; also strengthening product marketing strategies. In terms of strengthening marketing, the report comments that semi-arid regions have a comparative advantage in lean meat production; in this context, there is scope for better branding and marketing, which could form part of a forward-looking vision for the development of intra-regional trade in the beef sector.

Editorial comment

The growing demand for imported beef in West Africa is in part linked to developments in the retail sector in the urban areas of coastal states. The number of supermarkets serving higher-income consumers (although still a small component of the overall retail sector) is increasing rapidly. These supermarkets have major food safety concerns regarding the lack of traceability and quality assurance on locally sourced beef, which leads to a strong extra-regional sourcing focus.

There would appear to be scope for developing local beef supply chains linked to commercial feedlots and local processors, which have established more reliable traceability systems for guaranteeing a more hygienic and safer production of beef, in line with the demands of supermarket clientele (e.g. in Ghana).

Although the analysis suggests that there are policy tensions between on the one hand farming for local food supply and income generation purposes, and on the other industrial farming to meet urban food demand, there would appear to be scope for policy initiatives capable of addressing both concerns.

For example, developing the marketing of lean beef cuts produced from extensively raised cattle would appear to offer opportunities for this component of the West African beef sector to sidestep the competitive challenge posed by beef imports, by targeting market components concerned by the excessive consumption of fatty meat. However, this would require issues relating to the hygienic processing and transportation of such beef to be addressed. Equally, around urban areas, there would appear to be scope for expanding feedlots and processing facilities in line with supermarket buyer requirements.

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