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Why Is Agricultural Trade within ECOWAS So High?

Author

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  • Lassana Cissokho
  • Jonathan Haughton
  • Kossi Makpayo
  • Abdoulaye Seck

Abstract

It is widely believed that the countries of Africa trade relatively little with the outside world, and among themselves, despite an extensive network of regional trade agreements. We examine this proposition by focusing on agricultural trade. Specifically, we ask whether non-tariff barriers (NTBs) are stunting agricultural trade within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a grouping of fifteen countries in West Africa that has removed tariffs on agricultural trade among its members. Our survey of truckers in Tambacounda (Senegal) in August 2009 found evidence of extensive bribery by police and border officials, effectively representing a barrier to trading. We estimate a unit-elastic structural gravity model of agricultural trade, using data from 135 countries for 2000, 2003 and 2006, and employing Tobit and other types of structural specification. A robust result emerges: agricultural trade among the countries of ECOWAS is higher than one would expect. This does not mean that there are no NTBs within ECOWAS, but it does imply that any such barriers are less harmful to agricultural trade in ECOWAS than in the world as a whole. Similar effects are found for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the South African Development Community (SADC). This suggests that African countries are not averse to agricultural trade, and local traders have been effective at exploiting trade opportunities. Copyright 2013 , Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Lassana Cissokho & Jonathan Haughton & Kossi Makpayo & Abdoulaye Seck, 2013. "Why Is Agricultural Trade within ECOWAS So High?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 22(1), pages 22-51, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:22:y:2013:i:1:p:22-51
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jae/ejs015
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    Cited by:

    1. Adu, Raymond & Litsios, Ioannis & Baimbridge, Mark, 2022. "ECOWAS single currency: Prospective effects on trade," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    2. Kareem, Olayinka Idowu & Wieck, Christine, 2022. "Cartographie du commerce agricole au sein de la CEDEAO : structure et flux des produits agricoles, obstacles au commerce, lacunes en matière de financement et options politiques.Un projet de recherche," Working Papers 316973, Universitaet Hohenheim, Institute of Agricultural Policy and Agricultural Markets.
    3. Songfeng, Cai & Yaxiong, Zhang & Bo, Meng, 2014. "The Impact Analysis of TTIP on BRICs—based on dynamic GTAP model considering GVC," Conference papers 332528, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    4. Shahrzad Safaeimanesh & Glenn P. Jenkins, 2020. "Trade Facilitation and Its Impacts on the Economic Welfare and Sustainable Development of the ECOWAS Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, December.
    5. Fabien Candau & Geoffroy Guepie & Reine Kouakou, 2018. "In Gravity no Veritas: Dubious Trade Elasticiy and Weak Effects of Regional Trade Agreements in Africa," Working Papers hal-02625930, HAL.
    6. Tite Ehuitché BEKE & Dieu-Donné Melagne N’GUESSAN, 2021. "Echanges agricoles intrarégionaux et sécurité alimentaire dans l’espace CEDEAO," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 54, pages 51-81.
    7. Kareem, Olayinka Idowu & Wieck, Christine, 2022. "Mapping agricultural trade within the ECOWAS: structure and flow of agricultural products, barriers to trade, financing gaps and policy options A research project in cooperation with GIZ on behalf of ," Working Papers 316918, Universitaet Hohenheim, Institute of Agricultural Policy and Agricultural Markets.
    8. Bernard Hoekman & Dominique Njinkeu, 2017. "Integrating Africa: Some Trade Policy Research Priorities and Challenges," RSCAS Working Papers 2017/43, European University Institute.

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