ECOWAS Agricultural Policy promotes food security, growth efforts

The Nigeria-based Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) promotes growth and sustainability in all areas of Africa's economy, including agriculture, which is promoted through the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP).                                          


Agricultural activities and funding for agricultural programs are outlined in ECOWAP, which is governed by the Regional Agricultural Investment Plan (RAIP), which is the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) agriculture plan for West Africa.


ECOWAP's main goals are food security, the development of West Africa's agricultural sector and maintaining access to food for the West African people. ECOWAP's vision statement says the program's goal is “a modern and sustainable agriculture, based on effectiveness and efficiency of family farms and the promotion of agricultural enterprises through the involvement of the private sector.”

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supports ECOWAP's programs and was responsible for the formation of the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel. USAID also has provided significant funding for ECOWAP programs.

USAID representatives also helped boost the ECOWAS Regional Agency for Food and Agriculture (RAAF) and ensured the areas of nutrition and climate change were addressed in that agency's programs. Furthermore, they have worked with individual ECOWAS states to ensure priorities were addressed.


ECOWAS states include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.