Agriculture, development and international trade: Lessons to be learned from the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union

TLDR: In 2005, the Economic Union of West African States (ECOWAS) decided to create a common agricultural policy with food sovereignty and the promotion of efficient family farms as its main aims.

Abstract: In 2005, the Economic Union of West African States (ECOWAS) decided to create a common agricultural policy (ECOWAP), with food sovereignty and the promotion of efficient family farms as its main aims. The structure and instruments of the policy still have to be elaborated. Because the ECOWAS countries have close relations with the European Union (EU), it may be natural for them to look to the common agricultural policy of the EU for guidelines. Today, the EU is pressuring the ECOWAS countries to open their markets within the context of a European Partnership Agreement. However, the EU has itself created a highly protective farm policy that has pursued aims similar to those that the ECOWAS has now adopted. This policy has worked well for several decades. However, it also had significant shortcomings, with serious negative effects for European tax payers and for other countries. These shortcomings have induced policy changes that also explain the current position of the EU towards its West African partners. This paper surveys the history of the common agricultural policy of the EU so that farmers and policy makers of the ECOWAS can draw their own conclusions