Côte d'Ivoire
Overview of the country
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (RCI), is a country located in Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean, in the western part of the Gulf of Guinea. Covering an area of 322,462 km2, it is bordered to the north-west by Mali, to the north-east by Burkina Faso, to the east by Ghana, to the south-west by Liberia, to the west-north -west by Guinea and south by the Atlantic Ocean.
The population is estimated at 26,594,750 inhabitants since the 2017 census. It is divided into 31 regions and 2 autonomous districts.
Political, economic and social context of the country
- Political context
A new constitution, approved by referendum on October 30, 2016, entered into effect on November 8, 2016. It provides that the President of the Republic is elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term renewable once. It chooses a Vice-President who is appointed by the President of the Republic and validated by the Congress (National Assembly and Senate).
Legislatively, the National Assembly is composed of 225 deputies elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. The President of the Republic does not have the power to dissolve the National Assembly and the government is not accountable to the National Assembly. A second chamber, the Senate, was created by the new constitution, and installed on April 5, 2018. It has 99 members including 66 whom are elected by indirect universal suffrage for a five-year term and 33 designated members (appointed by the president of the Republic on April 3, 2019).
A new presidential election is to be held on October 31, 2020.
Membership of sub-regional and regional organizations: African Union, ECOWAS, WAEMU, AFRISTAT, Mano River Union, CILSS, ADB, BCEAO
- Economic context
GDP = 1 million FCFA per Capita; GDP growth in 2019 is 7.5%;
Distribution of GDP by sector of activity: Primary Sector: 18.7%; Secondary Sector: 21.8%; Tertiary sector: 38.6%; Non-Merchant: 9%; Duties and Taxes: 11.9%
Inflation below 0.5%.
Trade Balance: At the end of the first eight months of 2019, foreign trade in goods excluding exceptional goods was marked by an increase in the value of exports and imports of 11.2% and 3.6% respectively ”, evoking to "A trade balance excluding exceptional goods surplus of 724.3 billion, which almost doubled (91.1%) compared to the surplus achieved at the end of August 2018" (Source Ministry of the Economy and Finance).
The business environment: The Ivory Coast is one of the Top 10 reforming countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This result also places the country among the top 50 economies in the Doing Business Index of Ease of Doing Business by 2020. In terms of attractiveness, Côte d'Ivoire has initiated a series of reforms, including the "Charter for the improvement of the business environment", which focuses on the dematerialization, the rationalization and the simplification of the administrative procedures in the delivery of acts and services by the public administrations ".
- Social context
HDI: In 2018, Côte d’Ivoire records an HDI of 0.516. Ranked 165th country in the world and 32nd in Africa.
Poverty index: poverty fell to 46.3% (2015 survey)
Food Safety:
- Nationally, 10.8% of rural households are in moderated food insecurity in Côte d'Ivoire, of which 0.1% are in the severe form.
- Relative to the rural population, moderate food insecurity would have affected around 1,303,416 people.
- We note a clear improvement in the food security situation, the prevalence of which has risen from 12.6% in 2009 to 10.8% in 2018 and above all, with the elimination of the severe form of food insecurity.
Agro-sylvo-pastoral and fishery sector
I. Sector performance (Source: Assessment report of the National Agricultural Investment Program 2018-2019)
I.1. Vegetal sectors
The overall trend for cash crops shows an increase in production between 2012 and 2018 of almost 42.6% with production which increased from 5,252,191 tonnes to 7,490,230 tonnes.
For food crops, these figures are 11,856,532 tonnes in 2012 and 18,195,929 tonnes in 2018, making a growth of nearly 53.4%.
I.1.1. Food crops’ productions
In 2018, subsistence agriculture continued to develop but with a lower rate (+ 3.4%) than what was recorded in 2017 (+ 7.2%).
This increase in food production in 2018 has made it possible to fully cover national needs for yams, cassava, bananas and maize, the main food crops for national production. The coverage of national needs in milled rice by domestic production is estimated at 72% in 2018 (against 78% in 2017) for a production of 1.3 million tonnes.
I.1.2. Perennial crops production
Export agriculture recorded in 2018 a better dynamic than expected thanks to good rainfall and better phytosanitary treatment of the plantations. Between 2017 and 2018, the largest increases were recorded in cocoa (2,033,525 tonnes to 2,112,495.5 tonnes, + 3.9%), cashew nuts (711,236 tonnes to 761,317 tonnes, + 7.0%), seed cotton (328,090 tonnes to 412,646 tonnes, + 9.7%) and coffee (33,590 tonnes to 123,948.7 tonnes, + 269.0%).
I.2. Animal and fisheries sectors
I.2.1. Animal and meat products
In 2018, the coverage rate for meat and offal requirements was 48% compared to 41% in 2017.
National meat production thus increased from 133,578 tonnes in 2017 to 145,077 tonnes in 2018, an increase of 8% over the period.
As for the pig industry, it is affected by an outbreak of African swine fever declared in the departments of Ferkessédougou and Ouangolodougou since October 2017. This epizootic which has been partly contained with the controlled slaughter of 31,108 pigs from 887 farms , lowered the rate of pork meat coverage by Ivorian national production from 16% to 11% in 2017. In 2018, to address this threat, the Government, with the support of the FAO within the framework of a technical assistance project against African swine fever (ASF), signed an agreement that provides emergency assistance to more than 3,000 pig farmers in the regions of Tchologo and Poro.
I.2.2. Fishery products
The Government's efforts to support the production of fishery resources have concerned in particular: (i) the production of 1,705,219 tilapia fry distributed to fish farmers; (ii) stabilization of more than 1000 Brazilian tilapia broodstock and; (iii) the issuance of 1,239 fishing licenses including 70 Ivorian fishing licenses (LCPCI) for vessels flying the Ivorian flag, 28 fishing licenses for European Union tuna vessels (LCPUE) and 1,141 artisanal fishing licenses (maritime, lagoon and continental).