(Ecofin Agency) - Over the period from 2014 to 2017, Côte d'Ivoire achieved a food self-sufficiency rate of 105%, the Ministry of Agriculture announced yesterday at the presentation of the 2014-2017 food balance sheet,  organized in Abidjan, in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB).

According to the report, 14 primary or derived products account for more than 90% of the total volume of food available on the national territory and four of them have an availability of more than 50 kg/pers/year. These are yam (158 kg/pers/year), cassava (117 kg/pers/year), milled rice (109 kg/pers/year) and plantain banana (55 kg/pers/year).

"Overall, there is little variation in food availability per person, by commodity from one-year to another. However, there was a relatively significant increase in 2017 in rice and pelagic fish," the report read. The average calorific availability per person per day over the 2014-2017 period is estimated at 2,565 kilocalories (Kcal) with a minimum of 2,548 Kcal in 2014 and a maximum of 2,595 kcal in 2017.

Speaking on this occasion, the representative of the Minister of Agriculture, Gooré-Bi Kouakou Marcel urged the institutions producing and providing agricultural and food data to collaborate more closely in order to have all the basic data needed to compile Côte d'Ivoire's food balances for the coming years.

"The need for food availability statistics is well established. They provide an idea of the availability for human consumption for each product," said Louis Kouakou, speaking on behalf of the African Development Bank (AfDB). Let’s note that this initiative is part of the West African country’s agricultural improvement strategy.

André Chadrak