Browse Data and Analysis

This is a regional report on West Africa that primarily covers Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Mali, but also provides brief overviews in certain sections for Niger, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Mauritania.

After the 2023 outbreak of bluetongue disease in Europe, the bluetongue virus (BTV-3) has now spread to three Nordic countries. Denmark encountered the first case of bluetongue disease on August 9, Norway on September 6, and Sweden on September 12.

The Norwegian Exporter Guide gives an overview for prospective U.S. exporters who would like to get acquainted with the Norwegian food retail and export market.

Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, is expected to drop by more than 50 percent in marketing year 2024/25, due to extended dry spells associated with the El Niño event. Almost a million hectares of corn have been destroyed by the drought that forced the Zambian President to declare a “National Disaster and Emergency”.

Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, is expected to grow by 23 percent to 3.3 million metric tons (MMT) in marketing year (MY) 2023/24, mainly due to an upsurge in planted area.

Despite lower production in marketing year (MY) 2022/23, Zambia’s production of its staple crop, corn, will be sufficient to meet domestic demand. Zambia’s corn crop is forecast to decline by 25 percent to 2.7 million metric tons (MMT) in MY 2022/23, after producing a record crop 3.6 MMT in MY 2021/22.

Rice production in Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Mali is forecast at 8.02 million metric tons (MMT) in MY 2022/23 on average weather, improved irrigation, and enhanced stability in production areas. The 15 percent jump from MY 2021/22 follows a growing season that was plagued by poor weather, militant activity and instability in Mali, and irrigation issues and pest prevalence in Senegal.

An investigation conducted by the Norwegian Veterinary Institute (NVI) has confirmed that the strain of avian influenza that was detected in a laying hen population in Klepp municipality in Rogaland (a county in Western Norway) on November 11, 2021, was a highly pathogenic variant, more specifically H5N1.

Zambia produced its largest corn crop on record in the 2021/22 MY. This bumper corn crop of 3.6 million tons follows on Zambia’s third largest corn crop of 3.4 million tons produced in the 2020/21 MY.

This report is an addendum to the GAIN report number E42020-0069, EU Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) Report, dated October 14, 2020. It outlines Norway’s import requirements for food and agricultural products.

Marketing year (MY) 2021/22 area harvested for rice in Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Mali is expected to increase about 9 percent to 3.35 million HA as movement restrictions are eased in Guinea, planted area rebounds from flooding, and financing and input access for farmers increases.

In January 2021, the government of Norway presented its climate action plan for the transformation of Norwegian society by 2030.