**5. Trade liberalization, food dumping and food security in West Africa**

Dumping occurs when manufacturers export a product to another country at a price below the normal price. It entails selling products in foreign markets at unfairly low prices (prices lower than domestic costs or production costs) for the purpose of gaining competitive advantage over other suppliers. Dumping occurs when trade companies export agricultural products from developed countries to developing countries' markets at prices below production costs in the country of origin, undercutting the prices of local agricultural products and consequently destroying small farmers' domestic markets [27]. An example of this could be ascertained in the different prices European Union (EU)'s producers sell their poultry meat in their home countries and in West African countries. For instance, in 2003, EU producers sold their chicken at an average of 1.48 Euro/kg. In France (the largest chicken producer in the EU), during the same year, consumers bought their chicken at 4.86 Euro/kg. At the same time, EU frozen chicken was sold at 0.50 Euro/kg in the West African cities of Dakar, Cotonou, Douala, and Abidjan [28]. This is a classic example of dumping with serious implications for domestic production, food self-sufficiency and food security. Meanwhile, these frozen chicken parts exported to West Africa and other African countries have no value in the EU, because there is no demand and consequently no markets for them. The only alternative market is pet food, and because African traders offer higher prices than the price offered by the pet food industry in EU, the products are shipped to Africa and dumped in African markets.

Another example is the dumping of dairy products by the EU in West African markets. Every year, the EU, with nearly 40% of global trade volume, exports approximately 40,000 tons of milk powder and sweetened condensed milk to the Francophone countries of West Africa alone [29]. These products are subsequently

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dumping [32].

*World Trade Organization's Trade Liberalization Policy on Agriculture and Food Security…*

imports agricultural products such as cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire [30].

sold at prices far below their market prices in the countries of origin, undermining domestic production. On the surface level, it looks good that these products are sold at lower prices. At least, consumers would not spend so much purchasing food. But as has been warned in [26], short-term interest in procuring food from international markets at lower prices should not lead countries to sacrifice their long-term interest in building their capacity to produce the food they need to meet their consumption needs. As noted in [29], in 1999, 1 L of milk from subsidized milk powder from the EU costs 160 African Francs in Senegal, while 1 L from domestic production costs about 350–400 African Francs. This summarizes the extent of dumping by the EU on West African markets. The focus on EU is because the Union is West Africa's biggest trading partner. The US trade with West Africa is mostly centred on exportation of machinery and importation of crude oil, except in few cases where it

Both GATT and the WTO consider dumping as an unfair trade practice, yet some member countries (especially developed countries) of the world trading body still use it in their trade relations with developing countries. Countries that subsidize productions at home are mostly the ones that use dumping in their trade relations with trade partners. This is because subsidized products are usually exported at lower prices—prices that are lower than the cost of production and the prevailing price in international market. In international agricultural and food trade, the EU and the United States are the major users of dumping as a competitive strategy because of the high level of export subsidies and domestic support they grant to their farmers. Hence, as argued in [8], the rules governing the multilateral trading system are seen as providing opportunities for the United States and the European Union to continue subsidizing agricultural production and dumping the surpluses on the international market at artificially low prices while at the same time requiring developing countries to open up their markets to harmful and unjust competition from producers in industrialized countries. This brings about a situation where domestic food production in developing countries is displaced by cheap imported food. It has also stripped local farmers their ability to increase their incomes and for

Apart from export subsidies and domestic support given by the US and EU to their farmers which encourage dumping, the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) entered into between West African countries and the EU also encourages dumping of EU foods in West Africa. The agreement requires that West African countries should open up their markets for EU imports while EU gives them access to European markets as well. It has been argued that imports into West Africa from the EU would increase as a result of the agreement and that some African producers would be harmed as a result of the removal of tariffs on EU imports [31]. The implication is that West African food producers who cannot compete with the cheap imports are thrown out of production. This has very severe consequences for food security in the subregion. A study funded by the EU also shows that lower tariffs on potatoes, onions, poultry and prepared tomatoes could cause serious injury to domestic production and the well-being of producers, depress local industry and discourage the development of processing capacity [19]. In the same vein, the highly subsidized export of beef from the EU to West Africa has led to thousands of nomads in the Sahel to be driven to starvation by European beef

Also, trade liberalization has facilitated the dumping of frozen chicken cut parts (neck, back, legs, and wings) into West Africa by the EU. European Union consumers tend to eat breast rather than whole chicken, and there is no market in the EU for the other parts, except for pet food [28]. European poultry processing industry, therefore, has the choice between using the remaining parts as pet food

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86558*

the local population to have access to food.

#### *World Trade Organization's Trade Liberalization Policy on Agriculture and Food Security… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86558*

sold at prices far below their market prices in the countries of origin, undermining domestic production. On the surface level, it looks good that these products are sold at lower prices. At least, consumers would not spend so much purchasing food. But as has been warned in [26], short-term interest in procuring food from international markets at lower prices should not lead countries to sacrifice their long-term interest in building their capacity to produce the food they need to meet their consumption needs. As noted in [29], in 1999, 1 L of milk from subsidized milk powder from the EU costs 160 African Francs in Senegal, while 1 L from domestic production costs about 350–400 African Francs. This summarizes the extent of dumping by the EU on West African markets. The focus on EU is because the Union is West Africa's biggest trading partner. The US trade with West Africa is mostly centred on exportation of machinery and importation of crude oil, except in few cases where it imports agricultural products such as cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire [30].

Both GATT and the WTO consider dumping as an unfair trade practice, yet some member countries (especially developed countries) of the world trading body still use it in their trade relations with developing countries. Countries that subsidize productions at home are mostly the ones that use dumping in their trade relations with trade partners. This is because subsidized products are usually exported at lower prices—prices that are lower than the cost of production and the prevailing price in international market. In international agricultural and food trade, the EU and the United States are the major users of dumping as a competitive strategy because of the high level of export subsidies and domestic support they grant to their farmers. Hence, as argued in [8], the rules governing the multilateral trading system are seen as providing opportunities for the United States and the European Union to continue subsidizing agricultural production and dumping the surpluses on the international market at artificially low prices while at the same time requiring developing countries to open up their markets to harmful and unjust competition from producers in industrialized countries. This brings about a situation where domestic food production in developing countries is displaced by cheap imported food. It has also stripped local farmers their ability to increase their incomes and for the local population to have access to food.

Apart from export subsidies and domestic support given by the US and EU to their farmers which encourage dumping, the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) entered into between West African countries and the EU also encourages dumping of EU foods in West Africa. The agreement requires that West African countries should open up their markets for EU imports while EU gives them access to European markets as well. It has been argued that imports into West Africa from the EU would increase as a result of the agreement and that some African producers would be harmed as a result of the removal of tariffs on EU imports [31]. The implication is that West African food producers who cannot compete with the cheap imports are thrown out of production. This has very severe consequences for food security in the subregion. A study funded by the EU also shows that lower tariffs on potatoes, onions, poultry and prepared tomatoes could cause serious injury to domestic production and the well-being of producers, depress local industry and discourage the development of processing capacity [19]. In the same vein, the highly subsidized export of beef from the EU to West Africa has led to thousands of nomads in the Sahel to be driven to starvation by European beef dumping [32].

Also, trade liberalization has facilitated the dumping of frozen chicken cut parts (neck, back, legs, and wings) into West Africa by the EU. European Union consumers tend to eat breast rather than whole chicken, and there is no market in the EU for the other parts, except for pet food [28]. European poultry processing industry, therefore, has the choice between using the remaining parts as pet food

*Regional Development in Africa*

left for 'local' people.

**Figure 7.**

are cheaper in price due largely to export subsidy and domestic supports those products received from their home countries. When they are flooded in developing countries' markets, people tend to patronize these products more because they are not only cheaper, but also urban consumers mostly tend to have preference for these foreign products as they 'suit' their class and status. Domestic products should be

*Imports of poultry meat by major origin, ECOWAS, 2017. Source: Calculations from [20].*

**5. Trade liberalization, food dumping and food security in West Africa**

EU, the products are shipped to Africa and dumped in African markets.

Another example is the dumping of dairy products by the EU in West African markets. Every year, the EU, with nearly 40% of global trade volume, exports approximately 40,000 tons of milk powder and sweetened condensed milk to the Francophone countries of West Africa alone [29]. These products are subsequently

Dumping occurs when manufacturers export a product to another country at a price below the normal price. It entails selling products in foreign markets at unfairly low prices (prices lower than domestic costs or production costs) for the purpose of gaining competitive advantage over other suppliers. Dumping occurs when trade companies export agricultural products from developed countries to developing countries' markets at prices below production costs in the country of origin, undercutting the prices of local agricultural products and consequently destroying small farmers' domestic markets [27]. An example of this could be ascertained in the different prices European Union (EU)'s producers sell their poultry meat in their home countries and in West African countries. For instance, in 2003, EU producers sold their chicken at an average of 1.48 Euro/kg. In France (the largest chicken producer in the EU), during the same year, consumers bought their chicken at 4.86 Euro/kg. At the same time, EU frozen chicken was sold at 0.50 Euro/kg in the West African cities of Dakar, Cotonou, Douala, and Abidjan [28]. This is a classic example of dumping with serious implications for domestic production, food self-sufficiency and food security. Meanwhile, these frozen chicken parts exported to West Africa and other African countries have no value in the EU, because there is no demand and consequently no markets for them. The only alternative market is pet food, and because African traders offer higher prices than the price offered by the pet food industry in

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and exporting to poor countries at low costs. These poultry products exported to developing countries are usually not hygienically produced, with high negative impact on food security [28]. Often, chickens are fed with antibiotics daily, not as medicines, but as growth hormones. This results in low quality of meat both in terms of taste and sanitary standards, with dire consequences on the food-quality aspect of food security. The costs of all these damages are carried by the importing country, and not by producers. This has been summarized thus:

*The dumping of agricultural commodities on world markets increased food insecurity in developing countries by undercutting domestic production. The availability of cheap imported food depressed domestic food prices in developing countries, lowered the income of local farmers, and reduced incentives to invest in agriculture. Export dumping also reduced the export earnings of developing country producers by depressing world market prices for agricultural commodities [8].*

A good example of the effect of dumping on food security is illustrated by the impact of trade liberalization in tomato concentrate on Senegal's domestic production capacity. Tomato processing industries in Senegal have been affected adversely by the influx of cheap food products that were previously produced domestically [33]. Those industries cannot compete with mass production from the developed countries especially the EU due to lacking economies of scale. So in Senegal, the promotion of a viable agro-industry has been exposed even further to subsidized competition. Before liberalization, Senegal was a noticeable exporter of processed tomatoes—especially into other West African countries, but increasing imports of EU subsidized tomato concentrate has undermined the domestic infant industry. Within a year of WTO's existence, exports of tomato concentrate from the EU into Senegal jumped from 64 tons to 5348 tons, following trade liberalization as dictated by the WTO. On poultry meat, by 1992, before WTO and its trade liberalization policy came into place, Ghana's domestic market supplied 95% of Ghana's poultry requirements [33]. However, a decade later, the domestic market supplied only 11% of the country's poultry requirements. The rest were supplied by foreign competitors which was made possible by trade liberalization. The issue was that local producers could not compete with the obviously subsidized imports from developed countries' markets. The resultant effect was that this undermined the domestic industry with its consequences on food security.

The irony of the situation is that the trade liberalization narrative ignores the historical precedent in most developed countries of how agricultural trade protections facilitated development of agricultural sectors and industrialization. Details of the extensive use of subsidies, policy supports, and market protections by nearly all industrialized countries as part of their own economic development have been provided in [34]. Liberalization of agricultural sectors was never the trajectory taken by developed countries in achieving agricultural development. Indeed, liberalization policies only arrived well after industrialization. Even then, trade liberalization is arguably more illusionary than existent because even in this era of WTO, industrialized countries still employ the use of subsidies, domestic support and other restrictive measures in their trade relations with the rest of the world. For instance, In OECD countries, support to the agricultural sector has been increasing rather than decreasing. While the total support amounted to US\$ 298 billion in 1986–1988 (before WTO), it amounted to US\$ 311 billion in 2001 (even with the WTO in place), with three quarters of this support going to farmers [27].

However, there is no gainsaying the fact that in some ways, trade liberalization influences food security positively. First, it expands markets. For consumers, it opens access to additional sources that can supplement domestic production to

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*World Trade Organization's Trade Liberalization Policy on Agriculture and Food Security…*

meet demand. Imports can be essential during drought, diseases, floods, or other disruptions to domestic production. Farmers can also benefit from access to larger markets, supporting their income by exporting excess quantities and providing access to a wider variety of low-priced inputs like fertilizer, seeds, pesticide, and machineries [35]. However, because the rules governing international trade is biased in favour of the interests of developed countries, reliance on it for food security as being championed in liberal literature will spell doom for developing countries in general and West Africa in particular. In line with the argument in [26], the role of international trade should be reduced to complement a quest for greater

Closely related to food dumping is the issue of food aid. The effect of food aid on international trade, but especially on agricultural production in the countries receiving the aid had culminated in adopting the FAO Principles of Surplus Disposal as well as the founding of the Consultative Sub-Committee on Surplus Disposal (CSSD) as early as 1954. The Principles of Surplus Disposal is a kind of code of conduct that guides governments in providing food aid. Principally, they are meant to ensure that food and other agricultural commodities which are exported on concessional terms result in more consumption for the country receiving the food aid and do not displace normal commercial imports. Also, they seek to ensure that domestic production is not affected adversely or even discouraged. These principles were recognized in Article 10 of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture [36]. Article 10 demands that countries respect the FAO's Consultative Sub-Committee on Surplus Disposal and its principles and make food aid available 'to the extent possible'. However, neither the recommendation of the FAO-CSSD nor that of the WTO has had an impact on WTO members' food aid practices, as donors continue to use it as alternative to dumping after, in many cases, placing condition-

Thus, West African countries have been receiving large tons of food aid from developed countries. Among the highest recipients of food aid in a single year in West Africa were Liberia, which received 173,000 metric tons in 1997, and Ghana which received 123,000 metric tons in 1991. Both countries also received 55,338 metric tons and 81,000 metric tons of food aid in 1991 and 2000 respectively. Niger also amassed a total of 106,000 metric tons of food aid in 2010 alone. Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Cape Verde have also received food aids amounting to 75,000 metrics tons in 2002, 57,000 metric tons in 1990, 55,338 metric tons in 1991, and 53,227 metric tons in 1997 respectively [14]. It has been argued that this huge aid shipments of food, in particular wheat and rice, to West Africa have altered the consumption patterns in the region, shifting consumers' preferences from domestically produced 'inferior' cereals to 'superior' imported grains [37]. Therefore, in its own way, food aid has contributed to the food security crisis in West Africa by shifting consumers' preference for local food products to foreign

This paper demonstrated that WTO's trade liberalization policy on agriculture has not improved food security in West Africa. Rather, it has undermined food security in the subregion. This conclusion is based on the results of empirical evidence and data analysis which indicated that local food production has been on the decrease while food importation and dumping are on the increase. These are direct effects of trade liberalization. More so, the subregion's self-sufficiency ratios have been dwindling, which gives more impetus for food importation. This negative

food products, thereby undermining local production.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86558*

food self-sufficiency.

ality on them [36].

**6. Conclusion**

#### *World Trade Organization's Trade Liberalization Policy on Agriculture and Food Security… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86558*

meet demand. Imports can be essential during drought, diseases, floods, or other disruptions to domestic production. Farmers can also benefit from access to larger markets, supporting their income by exporting excess quantities and providing access to a wider variety of low-priced inputs like fertilizer, seeds, pesticide, and machineries [35]. However, because the rules governing international trade is biased in favour of the interests of developed countries, reliance on it for food security as being championed in liberal literature will spell doom for developing countries in general and West Africa in particular. In line with the argument in [26], the role of international trade should be reduced to complement a quest for greater food self-sufficiency.

Closely related to food dumping is the issue of food aid. The effect of food aid on international trade, but especially on agricultural production in the countries receiving the aid had culminated in adopting the FAO Principles of Surplus Disposal as well as the founding of the Consultative Sub-Committee on Surplus Disposal (CSSD) as early as 1954. The Principles of Surplus Disposal is a kind of code of conduct that guides governments in providing food aid. Principally, they are meant to ensure that food and other agricultural commodities which are exported on concessional terms result in more consumption for the country receiving the food aid and do not displace normal commercial imports. Also, they seek to ensure that domestic production is not affected adversely or even discouraged. These principles were recognized in Article 10 of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture [36]. Article 10 demands that countries respect the FAO's Consultative Sub-Committee on Surplus Disposal and its principles and make food aid available 'to the extent possible'. However, neither the recommendation of the FAO-CSSD nor that of the WTO has had an impact on WTO members' food aid practices, as donors continue to use it as alternative to dumping after, in many cases, placing conditionality on them [36].

Thus, West African countries have been receiving large tons of food aid from developed countries. Among the highest recipients of food aid in a single year in West Africa were Liberia, which received 173,000 metric tons in 1997, and Ghana which received 123,000 metric tons in 1991. Both countries also received 55,338 metric tons and 81,000 metric tons of food aid in 1991 and 2000 respectively. Niger also amassed a total of 106,000 metric tons of food aid in 2010 alone. Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Cape Verde have also received food aids amounting to 75,000 metrics tons in 2002, 57,000 metric tons in 1990, 55,338 metric tons in 1991, and 53,227 metric tons in 1997 respectively [14]. It has been argued that this huge aid shipments of food, in particular wheat and rice, to West Africa have altered the consumption patterns in the region, shifting consumers' preferences from domestically produced 'inferior' cereals to 'superior' imported grains [37]. Therefore, in its own way, food aid has contributed to the food security crisis in West Africa by shifting consumers' preference for local food products to foreign food products, thereby undermining local production.
