Food security and food sovereignty in West Africa

The paper analyzes the evolution of food security in West Africa during the last 25 years. The Millennium Development Goal One aims at halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015. Although Sub-Saharan Africa remains far from reaching the hunger target, West Africa presents a better situation, with eight countries that will meet the target. The paper focuses on international food trade, analyzing the recent growth of food imports in West Africa and the impact of this growth on food security. The last part of the paper is focused on the case of Benin: the country achieved an important reduction in undernourishment since 1990. The analysis aims to highlight the role of short food supply chains in rural development and therefore in food security strategies. The department of Atacora, in northern Benin, is used as a case study to show the recent evolution of local food networks in a region traditionally characterized by an export-oriented agriculture. In conclusion the paper highlights the link between food security, international trade, and local food networks, showing the potential of the ‘food sovereignty’ paradigm in understanding the geographies of food in West Africa.