Overview [In West African agriculture and climate change: A comprehensive analysis]

Abdulai Jalloh, Md Faye, Harold Roy-Macauley, Sérémé, P, Zougmoré, Robert B., Timothy Thomas and Gerald Nelson

Chapter 1 in West African agriculture and climate change: A comprehensive analysis, 2013, pp 1-36 from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: Agriculture is the major source of livelihood for the majority of West Africans. The agricultural sector employs 60 percent of the active labor force but contributes only 35 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The disparity between contribution to GDP and share of population means that many West African farmers are very poor, producing close to subsistence levels and facing numerous constraints such as droughts, soil acidity, and nutrient-depleted and degraded soils that impinge on agricultural development. The most important foodcrops grown and consumed in West Africa are cereals—sorghum, millet, maize, and rice; roots and tubers—cassava, sweet potatoes, and yams; and legumes—cowpeas and groundnuts. Major cash crops are cocoa, coffee, and cotton.

Keywords: climate; agriculture; economics; Benin; Burkina Faso; Cabo Verde; Côte d'Ivoire; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Liberia; Mali; Mauritania; Niger; Nigeria; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Togo; Africa; Western Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:ifpric:9780896292048-01

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