This research investigated the impact of climate change on agricultural trade flows within and outside the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). To achieve its objectives, the study used a trade module of trade cost minimization built within a bio-economic optimization model of cropland allocation. The results showed that the pattern of trade in ECOWAS region induced by climatic factors will depend on socio-economic conditions that may prevail during the century. No specific pattern of trade flows is predicted, but there are some countries that may export food to other countries some years and may later become importers in other years. Furthermore, several countries may become dependent on trade outside ECOWAS to meet their domestic food demands. The factors that may ease the cost of trade in ECOWAS on food imports may be an adjustment of the common exterior tariffs. In fact, the study showed that a trade policy that reduces the common exterior tariffs by about 5% and 10% could induce the reduction of total trade cost of about 3% to 7%, respectively.

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