Market Prospects for Groundnut in West Africa COMMON FUND ...

Executive Summary
Groundnut trade in international markets accounts for a mere 4-6% of total
world production, while the majority of world groundnut production serves
subsistence needs and requirements of domestic markets. In general, recent
decades have seen an increase in the consumption of groundnut for all uses.
There has been a shift away from its use for oil and meal (for which there are
substitutes, notably soya) and toward confectionary groundnut, for which
there are no exact substitutes. However, as product quality standards are far
higher for edible groundnut, this trend implies a corresponding increase in
product quality (particularly in terms of Aspergillus, the source of aflatoxin).
In general, the European groundnut market has become less diversified
and more concentrated over the past decade. It is said that until the late1990s,
large and small origin shellers/suppliers provided products to a range of large
and small dealers, to serve a range of large and small consumers ie, from enduse
manufacturing industries to supermarkets.
Since the early 1970s, groundnut consumption patterns have shifted in
West Africa as in other parts of the world. While total consumption in eastern
and southern Africa has declined, groundnut utilization in West Africa has
increased significantly due to a shift toward edible applications. Since the late
1980s, groundnut in West Africa has become primarily a food crop rather than
oilseed. Between 1972 and 2000, the proportion of West African groundnuts
consumed as food grew by an astonishing 209%, even as exports declined
precipitously during the same period.
The decline of African groundnut exports is related to the trend toward
production of edible groundnut, which was poorly timed in respect to
increasing aflatoxin restrictions as well as increasing industrial substitution by
other oils, particularly soybean.
Though all the countries which produce groundnut are prone to aflatoxin
infestation, Africa is considered particularly problematic by international
buyers, as the production chain in each country (with the exception of South
Africa) is fragmented, production systems insufficient to address the problem,
aflatoxin monitoring by crop virtually nonexistent, and pre-shipment
inspection services perceived as lacking in reliability.
Unfortunately, international trade in groundnut is based on confidence
and reliability in terms of supply as well as product quality. The current EU
regulations on aflatoxin have certainly contributed to an increasingly
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