Resuming Trade Data Collection in West Africa: Key to Disease Surveillance and Economic Development

A decade ago, West Africa established a system to track intra-regional trade in agricultural products and livestock. However, the system was closed down in 2022 due to a lack of funding from regional organisations. The mechanism provided data on trade patterns, livestock, and zoonotic diseases, which are essential for assessing the impact of external shocks on food security and economic development. Without up-to-date trade data, regional bodies and national statistical offices face significant challenges in mapping trade networks and disease surveillance efforts.

Key Takeaways:

• The lack of funding for the trade data collection system has severely impacted the ability of regional bodies and national statistical offices to assess the impact of external shocks on food security and economic development in West Africa.
• The social structure of trade networks, their geography, and temporal changes are critical factors in informing market information systems and disease surveillance, which rely heavily on the movement of goods, people, livestock, and capital across the region.
• The unique database on the regional economy in West Africa highlights the significant role played by informal trade in agricultural goods and livestock, with a large proportion of movements being trans-boundary and facilitating the spread of zoonotic diseases.
• The transnational nature of trade in West Africa has led to the creation of a regional database that incorporates both formal and informal trade, providing valuable insights into the region's economy and disease dynamics.
• The recent work on informal trade activities estimates that these activities could reach up to $1.8 billion, representing six times higher than portrayed in official statistics.
• Filling the statistical gap requires regional institutions to take over data collection, rather than bilateral donors, and to support local associations in developing a sustainable and self-financed means of collecting reliable data on agricultural and food trade.
• The cessation of funding for data collection activities has had dire effects on researchers' ability to measure the impact of structural and political changes affecting the region, including the closure of certain borders following successive coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
• Re-establishing a permanent data collection system is essential for policymakers wishing to strengthen the region's resilience, including centralizing livestock mobility data and developing control measures and alert systems to protect unaffected areas.

Statistics:

• Over 320 markets and along 10 corridors provided data on trade patterns, livestock, and zoonotic diseases.
• The unique database on the regional economy in West Africa highlights the significant role played by informal trade in agricultural goods and livestock, with a large proportion of movements being trans-boundary.
• The recent work on informal trade activities estimates that these activities could reach up to $1.8 billion, representing six times higher than portrayed in official statistics.
• Regional livestock exports for Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso are likely to be close to $1 billion when counting unrecorded trade, against $80 million in official statistics.

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