The Collapse of a Vital Trade Monitoring System in West Africa
A decade ago, countries in West Africa established a unique trade monitoring mechanism. This system aimed to track the movement of agricultural products and livestock within the region. However, it was shut down in 2022 due to a lack of funding from regional organizations.
The system provided crucial data from over 320 markets and along 10 trade corridors. It enabled the tracking of not only trade patterns but also the movement of livestock and zoonotic diseases. Without this data, several challenges arise:
- Impact of External Shocks: Detailed intra-trade data is essential for assessing the effects of external shocks like political crises, extreme weather events, currency devaluation, or epidemics on food security and economic development.
- Mapping Trade Networks: Good data helps map trade networks, which can strengthen market information systems and disease surveillance efforts. These systems depend heavily on the movement of goods, people, livestock, and capital across the region.
Using data collected by the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel between 2013 and 2017, researchers highlighted the importance of considering the social structure of trade networks, their geography, and temporal changes. This understanding could better inform market information systems and disease surveillance, both of which rely on cross-regional movement.
Researchers concluded that regional bodies should support the resumption of trade data collection. They also recommended fostering dialogue with national statistical offices and other institutions experienced in collecting data on informal regional food trade to work towards a coherent regional statistical approach.
A Unique Database on the Regional Economy
In West Africa, agricultural goods and livestock trade operate through well-established corridors. For example, animals move from the Sahel to major urban centers on the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Guinea. Our analysis of trade data suggests that border markets play a key role in livestock trade, with a large proportion of movements being trans-boundary.
This high level of mobility facilitates the spread of livestock and zoonotic diseases, including Rift Valley fever, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Foot and Mouth disease, and Peste des petits ruminants. In September 2025, a new outbreak of Rift Valley fever was observed in Mauritania and Senegal, two countries with very close ties regarding animal movements.
The transnational nature of trade in West Africa led to the creation of a regional database by the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel in 2013. Data collected from over 320 markets and along 10 corridors, from Guinea and Senegal in the west to Nigeria in the east, was unique on the African continent.
This data was particularly suited for analyzing locally-produced food stuff and livestock at the regional level because it incorporated both formal and informal trade. Informal activities are prevalent throughout the region, with estimates suggesting they could reach up to 85% of total trade, representing $10 billion—six times higher than official statistics.
Filling the Statistical Gap
Recent experiences and the transnational nature of trade flows suggest one key step: regional institutions, rather than bilateral donors, should take over data collection. Initially, the data was collected under the framework of the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel’s Regional Support Program of Market Access, developed to increase trade volume and value within the Economic Community of West African States and the West African Economic and Monetary Union.
From 2017 to 2019, the United States Agency for International Development funded the establishment of the database as part of its West Africa/Regional Agriculture Office. The data was eventually integrated into the ECOWAS Informal Cross Border Trade database, developed in 2019 to monitor informal cross-border trade in the region.
After the U.S. program ended in 2019, data collection was transferred to the Family Farming, Regional Markets and Cross-Border Trade Corridors in the Sahel project, launched in 2020. Its aim was to develop a sustainable and self-financed means of collecting reliable data on agricultural and food trade in West Africa.
Funding for these activities was provided by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and managed locally by the West African Association for Cross-Border Trade in Agro-forestry-pastoral and Fisheries Products, based in Togo. This initiative, covering 17 countries, unfortunately came to an end in 2022 (agricultural products) and 2024 (livestock).
Better Data to Monitor Trade and Animal Diseases
Re-establishing a permanent data collection system by supporting local associations such as the West African Association for Cross-Border Trade in Agro-forestry-pastoral and Fisheries Products is one of the essential steps for policymakers wishing to strengthen the region’s resilience.
The World Animal Health Organisation’s International Animal Health Code has suggested centralizing livestock mobility data, which could be a starting point. This would be the most efficient way to prevent and respond to transnational disease spread through trade.
Accurate, timely, and centralized data collection could help identify possible hotspots, reconstruct transmission patterns, and develop control measures and alert systems to protect unaffected areas. Beyond disease control, resuming the collection of data on intra-regional trade would also contribute to designing policies that support the adaptation of the regional economy to new climate conditions and political unrest.
Better trade data on West Africa’s informal sector could unlock climate adaptation finance by highlighting its real value. For instance, in one of our latest reports, we estimate that regional livestock exports for Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso are likely to be close to USD 1 billion when counting unrecorded trade, against USD 80 million in official statistics.
