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New publication [05.11.26]
Olayinka Idowu Kareem has published his article "Trade Policy Measures and Quality Infrastructure in the ECOWAS: investigating the inclusiveness of the intra-regional agri-food Trade"ECOWAS—the Economic Community of West African States—is a regional organization established in 1975 with the aim to cooperate economically and promote trade between its members. In contrast to its original ambitions, however, trade between ECOWAS countries is low relative to the region’s overall trade.
The challenges to trade in ECOWAS have been analysed by other studies; according to them, especially trade of food and agricultural products is harder among ECOWAS countries because of different policy measures and procedures to ensure a certain quality of the traded goods, from standards testing to certification (Trade-related quality infrastructure).
This paper combines findings from descriptive statistics and expert interviews. It looks closer at those trade barriers and their consequences on:
- trade flows (how much food is traded between ECOWAS countries) and
- trade inclusiveness (whether different people and countries can participate in and benefit from that trade; the study gives particular attention to women)
Overall, the paper aims at proposing some opportunities for ECOWAS Member States to improve agri-food trade and make it more inclusive.
Kareem, Olayinka Idowu and Wieck, Christine (2026) "Trade Policy Measures and Quality Infrastructure in the ECOWAS: investigating the inclusiveness of the intra-regional agri-food Trade" Journal of African Trade: Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 4.
DOI: doi.org/10.59624/2214-8523.1153