West Africa as a region is projected to continue robust economic growth in the decades ahead,
according to scenarios developed by the global modeling community in the context of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment reports. Many countries will enter
middle-income status by 2030, and more will do so by 2050. The combination of rising incomes and
population will lead demand for food to grow more rapidly than supply if output and productivity
continue to grow at rates observed in recent years. The regional agrifood system described in this report is complex and raises significant managerial challenges for decision makers. It is not, however, new or a radical departure from the system that is already in place and evolving. This report emphasizes the importance of and benefits from applying analytical tools in decision making for agricultural transformation. A sample of such tools is presented in this report. The applications of the tools and findings herein reported are sound, but also limited by context and availability of data.
