Livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa, from the independence's to 2020. I. Sub-Saharan Africa in the world exchanges and livestock sector's trend

Abstract

Livestock sector represents a variable, but often important, part of the agricultural sector in different countries of  sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is estimated to about one third of the gross domestic product in the agricultural sector (livestock not included). SSA contributes for less than 2% of the world exchanges of livestock products. SSA imports 2.2% of meat and accounts for only 1.4% of the world exports. The balance of payments deficit amounts to 400 billions US$ and over the half concerns chicken and pork (white meat). The deficit linked to the milk products is important too. In return, the balance is positive for skin and hides. An analysis of trade flows reveals that they are strongly linked to the proximity of partners, the sanitary constraints and the system of statutes. Then the regional demand of livestock products is analyzed through the animal protein food intakes in the consumption of these last 30 years. This analysis reveals a low dailyconsumption (9.2 g per capita), with an important evolution of consumed products like chicken and pork. For the milk products, if the total consumption increases of 2% per year, the annual consumption per capita decreases (32.2 kg in 1994). The increase of production is less important than the demographic growth, the livestock production has doubled these last 30 years, but the imports have increased steeply. For milk, the production increases, but not enough, and the imports are superior to 1 000 tons eq. milk (teql).