Staple Food Market Sheds in West Africa
February 1, 2012 - Steven Haggblade, Steven Longabaugh, Duncan Boughton, Nango Dembelé, Boubacar Diallo, John Staatz, and David Tschirley
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EmailIDWP 121. Steven Haggblade, Steven Longabaugh, Duncan Boughton, Nango Dembelé, Boubacar Diallo, John Staatz, and David Tschirley. 2012. Staple Food Market Sheds in West Africa.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This paper aims to identify the geographic extent of major staple food market sheds in West
Africa as well as the major trade corridors that link surplus producing areas with the deficit
markets they serve. The method employed combines data on the spatial distribution of rural
and urban population, maps of differing food staple zones, crop production data and
consumption patterns as described in an array of recent household surveys to map major
urban food markets as well as principal surplus production zones. Expert knowledge from
traders and other market monitors in the region enable the authors to identify the major
commodity flows linking the markets with their major supply zones. These efforts aim to
summarize a large volume of information simply and clearly in market shed maps. The paper
applies this method to map foodsheds for the region's major domestically produced food
staple, sorghum and millet, and the major imported food, rice.
