Can countries in West Africa achieve 6 percent target growth rates as part of their commitment to CAADP? Just as importantly, are they on target to meet their other commitment: the first millennium development goal (MDG1) of halving poverty by 2015? If not, what needs to be done in terms of resource allocation, investments and policy reform?

The ReSAKSS Working Paper No. 22, “Regional Strategic Alternatives for Agriculture-led Growth and Poverty Reduction in West Africa, ” attempts to answer these questions through summarizing results from a set of economic and spatial analyses exploring alternative region-wide development strategy priorities for agriculture in order to generate economic growth and poverty reduction in West Africa. The study finds that West Africa will need to achieve an annual agriculture growth rate of 6.8 percent in order to meet MDG1. Although there is variation across countries in terms of agriculture performance, many are already achieving growth rates above 5 percent and more than half above 6 percent. Therefore, meeting the CAADP target and MDG1 is feasible for many in the region but is still dependent on appropriate actions by governments. According to the authors, governments in the region will need to spur productivity growth, focusing on sub-sectors with high demand within West Africa; strengthen regional agricultural markets, trade and economic integration; enhance linkages between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors and exploit opportunities for greater regional cooperation and harmonization.

Download the working paper (PDF, 1.1 MB).