In the highly risky environment of the Sahel, livestock play a vital role in the support of livelihoods, through income generation, as a form of insurance against erratic rainfall and often as the only available store of wealth. Transhumance and nomadism are peculiarities of the region, as they represent the most efficient adaptation to the harsh climatic and physical conditions.

To enhance development in the region, the Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest-Africaine (UEMOA) was founded in 1994, comprising eight West African member countries, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. UEMOA envisages cooperation and economic growth through the harmonisation of sectoral policies, abolishing trade restrictions and facilitating the free circulation of goods and services.

Although animals and animal products from the region are not able to access the global market due to the prevailing animal disease situation, enhancing the efficiency of domestic and intra-regional livestock trade has been identified as a promising option to improve the incomes of livestock keepers in the arid and semi-arid parts of the region. The Sahelian countries are low cost producers of ruminant livestock while those on the coast, owing to the increasing demand from rapidly growing urban centres, are major importers of livestock and livestock products.

At present, cross-border livestock trade is limited by high transportation and handling costs, high direct, indirect and illicit taxes, and poor market information. Lack of capital and poor access to credit also hamper commercial actors in the sub-sector. Movement restrictions, imposed to prevent the spread of contagious livestock diseases, and diverse zoo-sanitary legislation further act to constrain intra-regional trade.

The Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative (PPLPI) has engaged with UEMOA to facilitate intra-regional trade through harmonization of the zoo-sanitary legislation, in compliance with the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement, and to enhancement the implementation capacity of the national animal health services in the UEMOA countries.