The resilience of agricultural trade networks in West Africa

Abstract

Trade networks for agricultural products play an important role in agricultural development and regional integration in West Africa. However, mapping these networks is challenging due to the lack of a comprehensive analytical framework that supports evidence-based policymaking. This note represents a first attempt to integrate the spatial, social and temporal aspects that influence trade patterns in the region. The paper begins by examining how external shocks, such as border closures and pandemics, affect agricultural trade networks in West Africa and how these networks respond to such shocks. The paper then uses data on livestock movements, collected from 2013 to 2017 by the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), to illustrate the benefits of spatialising trade networks over time. The paper argues that a more network-based approach to regional trade could help to identify specific places, routes and key actors that are particularly vulnerable to external shocks, and design place-based policies that would strengthen their resilience.