What It Means for Food Security and Poverty Reduction

West Africa has sustained a solid pace of growth for nearly two decades—a welcome change after years of stagnation and decline. The strategic question remains, however: How can the region build on this success to accelerate economic transformation and broaden growth, especially to provide regional food security?

This question will be the central theme of the workshop—Economic Transformation in West Africa: What It Means for Food Security and Poverty Reduction—to be held on May 15, 2013, in Dakar, Senegal. The workshop is organized by the West and Central Africa Office of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and hosted by the Faculty of Economics and Management of Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (FASEG/UCAD) and the Senegalese National Agricultural Research Institute (ISRA).

Among speakers and discussants who will participate in the workshop are Senegal ‘s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Equipment H.E. Abdoulaye Baldé, and Sierra Leone’s Minister of Agriculture H.E. Joseph Sam Sesay. Scientists from FASEG, ISRA, IFPRI and from West Africa will also attend.

Workshop speakers will look at the links between economic transformation and agriculture, social protection, food markets, and trade and will reflect on research gaps and policy actions for the region.