The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) monitors trends in food staple prices in countries vulnerable to food insecurity. For each FEWS NET country and region, the Price Bulletin provides a set of graphs that show monthly prices during the current marketing season in selected urban centers and allow users to compare current trends and five-year average prices, indicative of seasonal trends and prices in the previous year.
West Africa can be divided into three agro-ecological zones or three different trade basins (West Basin, Central Basin and East Basin). Both important for understanding market behavior and dynamics.
The three main agro-ecological zones are the Sahelian, Sudanic and Coastal zones where production and consumption can be easily classified. (1) In the Sahelian zone, millet is the main cereal grown and consumed especially in rural areas and increasingly, when accessible, in urban areas. Exceptions include Cape Verde where maize and rice are more important, Mauritania where sorghum and maize are staples, and Senegal with rice. The main substitutes in the Sahel are sorghum, rice and cassava flour (Gari), the latter two in times of scarcity. (2) In the Sudan zone (southern Chad, central Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, southern Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Serra Leone, Liberia) maize and sorghum are the main cereals consumed the majority of the population. Next come rice and tubers, especially cassava and yam. (3) In the Coastal zone, with two rainy seasons, yam and maize are the most important food products. They are supplemented by cowpea, which is an important source of protein.
The three trade basins are known as the Western, Central and Eastern basins. In addition to the north-south movement of specific commodities, some grains flow horizontally. (1) The western basin refers to Mauritania, Senegal, western Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Gambia where rice is most traded. (2) The central basin consists of Ivory Coast, central and eastern Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Togo where maize is usually traded. (3) The Eastern Basin refers to Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Benin, where millet is most commonly traded. These three trade basins are shown on the map above.