West Africa

This article uses a gender-based perspective to assess the conditions that underlie vulnerability and resilience of households and communities that face climate-change. The authors utilized a feminist political ecology framework to analyze how women and men are differently affected by issues of climate change and resource degradation. The authors compared the agricultural and livelihood systems of male and female respondents, as well as their productive resources, organization and access to services, and concluded that women have less access than men to common property resources, as well as to cash to obtain goods or services. »

This report by the African Development Bank, ECOWAS and the Food and Agriculture Organization highlights opportunities for West African Agricultural growth. The authors states that the combination of strong demand growth, sustained economic growth, higher global agricultural prices, and an improved policy environment has generated the most conducive conditions for agricultural growth in West Africa in over 30 years. »

This report elaborates on the importance of food markets for food consumption in African cities and rural areas. It argues that food systems in West Africa are rapidly changing and that, contrary to popular belief, the percentage of subsistence farming for food consumption in rural areas is also declining. Therefore, market supply is becoming the main source for food consumption and rural as well as urban household tend to become more vulnerable to fluctuation in food prices on these markets, which impacts their food security. »

This World Bank Group (WBG) working paper (PDF), explores the development of integrated regional markets and agricultural input supply chains for farmers in West Africa. The paper is a result of consultations with seed, fertilizer, and regional trade experts in the region. The working paper offers recommendations to build on the progress of West African governments that have worked on the development of trade rules and quality control methods. »

This report (PDF) by the Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition in West Africa of FAO, in collaboration with UNESCO, is a result of an online discussion on rural radio and community media, organized in February 2015. This initiative aimed to contribute to current debates about the challenges and opportunities of the role that rural radio and community media can have to young people to improve the resilience and food security in West Africa. »

In order to inform gender targeting of rural finance policy, this paper by IFPRI investigates which financial products best improve farmers’ productivity, resilience, and welfare, and whether benefits affect men and women equally. Using a randomized field experiment in Senegal and Burkina Faso, the authors compare male and female farmers who are offered index-based agricultural insurance with those who are offered a variety of savings instruments. »