Last October, the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) and the Initiative Prospective agricole et rurale (IPAR), with the support of Intervalle, organised a webinar on the role of trade policies in the development of rice value chains in West Africa, a key sector for agriculture and food policies in the region. This note summarises the discussions and presents proposals.
The views of participants from both the public and private sectors showed that some countries have made more progress than others in setting up mechanisms to regulate rice markets and in promoting competitive and inclusive value chains. This entailed measures and interventions linking stricter regulation of imports to the structuring of domestic markets and support to producers. But these initiatives face obstacles, particularly a lack of clear and robust regulatory mechanisms.