Livestock and meat trade in Western and Central Africa, a factor of economical integration

Sahel Africa has great potential in livestock and is considered as an expor ter while coastal countries are usually taken as markets, therefore importe rs of sahelian products. However, the product flows are constrained by nume rous factors endogenous as well as exogenous. Solutions can be found throug h integration with a common tax and custom policy reducing the influence of exogenous factors, a better flow of information to evaluate easier and to match supply and demand, a better organization of professionals in the vari ous sectors (producers, buyers, conveyors, participants, wholesale butchers ...), a better regulation and organization of animal flows and commercial e xchanges (single registration desks, suppression of wild taxes....). The focus should be directed toward training in meat professions, the reinf orcement of the operation abilities of subregional institutions and a bette r coordination. Finally, the setting of a livestock and meat monitoring sys tem can enable the coordination of the different actions, the use of data w ith greater benefit and make them available to the subregion governments.