This paper was prepared as an initial scoping study for the Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC) Secretariat to provide the basis for developing a longer term programme of work to examine the transformations underway in West African agriculture, and the challenges faced by smallholder production systems. The following question was a key driver behind this work: what is the future of the family farm in West Africa, in the light of the enormous changes that have taken place within agriculture over the last two decades and further likely changes to come?