The City of Lomé, Togo, hosted the opening of the steering committees for the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) projects and programs on April 28, 2025. This annual gathering brings together over seventy key figures from the West African agroforestry and fisheries sector to evaluate the implementation of regional projects and programs for the year 2024.
This forum serves as a platform for accountability, sharing of experiences, and strategic guidance. The ECOWAS Commission uses this opportunity to assess progress, identify challenges, and propose solutions to enhance the effectiveness of public and private partnerships within the agricultural sector.
For three days, a wide range of representatives, including Member States, producer organizations, development partners, and sectoral experts, will reflect on the results achieved in 2024 concerning regional initiatives. These discussions occur in a challenging context marked by security crises in Sahel countries, sociopolitical issues in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, and climatic shocks affecting access to basic services.
Despite these adversities, several positive outcomes have been noted. Beneficiaries have improved their technical capabilities, adopting innovative tools to boost agricultural productivity and intra-regional trade in agri-food products. However, a lack of synergy among institutions remains a significant obstacle.
Addressing systemic challenges requires updating policies and strategies for food, nutrition, and pastoral security. To this effect, the ECOWAS Commission is revising the Regional Agricultural Policy and the Regional Food Security Strategy. This revision is aimed at optimizing institutional arrangements and promoting sustainable funding mechanisms as resources diminish both internationally and nationally.
Mr. Konlani Dindiogue, representing Togo's Minister for Agriculture, Village Hydraulics, and Rural Development, stated, "despite the many efforts made, the region remains dependent on food imports to meet the needs of its population. It is therefore essential to focus efforts on local development through agro-industrial and local processing sectors that generate jobs for young people."
Mrs. Massandjé Touré-Litsé, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, who chairs the committees, emphasized the need for more coherence and harmonization of interventions. "Like in 2024, this year’s Steering Committees command us to think strategically with a view to improving the convergence of actions and initiatives contributing to the implementation of ECOWAP," she noted.
Following recommendations from the Technical Monitoring Committees in November 2024, ECOWAP’s priority areas were reorganized, reducing them from nine to five key areas: improving production and productivity, developing animal and fishery resources, promoting value chains and regional markets, enhancing food and nutritional resilience, and improving financing mechanisms and governance. These thematic areas highlight achievements and ongoing challenges like climate exposure and limited mechanization in agriculture.
Commissioner Touré-Litsé remarked, "Thanks to increased internal funding through the Community levy and partner funds, better institutional coordination and improved governance systems, the region has strengthened its leadership in driving ECOWAP. Nevertheless, the ECOWAS transformation program is still limited by structural challenges, notably excessive dependence on external funding, late legal and policy harmonization, limited interoperability between data systems, and insufficient involvement of the private sector."
The annual regional steering committees for ECOWAP projects are strategic in fostering coordination improvements at the regional level.
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