Grain marketing in Senegal"s peanut basin : 1984/85 situation and issues

It briefly describes the current grain marketing situation, with emphasis on the Peanut Basin. It also discusses a number of immediate policy questions relative to the roles of private trade and the public sector. With the opening of the 1984/85 marketing seasons for grain on October 15, the Food Security Commissariat (CSA) began a campaign aimed at collecting 40,000 tonnes of grain, 32,000 tonnes of millet, 7,500 tonnes of maize, and 500 tonnes of cowpeas. The CSA apparently gave up on its target of assembling 500 tonnes of cowpeas for which the free market price in most places was actually 200% or more than the official prices. And it made no attempt to purchase millet because the market price was higher than the official price. Grain trading in the private sector involves a system of collectors and wholesalers who assemble small (3-5 kg) and larger (50-100 kg) quantities at the village and in periodic markets. Bagged grain is generally assembled in periodic markets and handled in break bulk to move it to major regional centers. At these centers, it is consumed, stored, or redistributed to cereal deficit areas. Some storage also takes place in or near the approximately 200 periodic markets in the peanut Basin, where grain is exchanged in varying volumes. (Author abstract, from PN-ABQ-372)