Milk Offensive Support Project in West Africa (PAOLAO)

As part of the implementation of its agricultural policy : ECOWAP, in 2020, ECOWAS adopted a regional strategy for the promotion of local milk value chains in West Africa ("Milk Offensive") and a corresponding Regional Priority Investment Plan. Milk is one of the five strategic agricultural sectors selected by the regional agricultural policy (ECOWAP, adopted in 2005) in view of its economic and socio-cultural importance in the region. This strategy aims to promote "a West Africa that emerges as one of the dairy basins of the African continent and progressively increases its contribution to regional trade in dairy products of Community origin". It aims to double the volume of local fresh milk production (from pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems) to 10 billion litres a year by 2030, compared with around 5 billion litres currently. It is also aiming to increase the amount of fresh milk used in dairy production from 5% to 20%.

The local dairy industry provides jobs and income for a wide range of players, but faces enormous challenges. These include: (i) the under-exploitation of its potential due to the low productivity of local dairy cows; (ii) the low collection capacity of processing units (less than 5% of local production collected); and (iii) the low level of tariff protection at borders.

The region's annual milk production is estimated at some 6.5 million tonnes (FAO Stat, 2017), i.e. an average of 16 litres per capita for an average per capita consumption estimated at 42.6 litres of milk equivalent per year, far from the standards recommended by international institutions (150 to 200 litres).

The aim is not to prevent imports, but to make them less attractive to processors and consumers, to make local milk more attractive and to achieve a local milk incorporation rate of around 20-25% by 2035. It is with this in mind that ECOWAS intends to operationalize the milk offensive through operational projects such as PAOLAO financed by the French Development Agency to the tune of €11 million.

In order to promote local dairy sectors and reduce the region's growing dependence on imports of milk powder and dairy products, this project, through its four components, aims to:

• - Support ECOWAS in steering and implementing its regional "local milk sector" strategy by (i) bringing consistency and regulation to the region's trade and tax policy (revision of the Common External Tariff (CET) applicable to milk powder; exemption from VAT for equipment needed to develop local milk production; exemption from VAT for dairy products made from local milk); (ii) drawing up a policy encouraging the use of local milk; (iii) mobilising resources and developing significant investment at regional, state and private sector level;
• - Support the structuring of the local milk sector : by (i) making the regional platform of milk sector stakeholders operational; (ii) sharing knowledge on dairy technologies and economic models; (iii) setting up pilot schemes to promote milk collection;
• - Promote the consumption of local milk : by (i) rolling out a communication and information programme for the general public on the consumption of local milk; (ii) developing institutional purchases - via school canteens in particular;
• - Initiate discussions to mobilise and increase the commitment of technical and financial partners in support of this sector.