Ecowas

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), through the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) and in collaboration with the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), brought together organisations of farmers, as well as their regional networks, in Dakar from 22 to 25 June 2026 to gather their input on the revision of the Regional Food Security Storage Strategy.

More than seventy representatives of farmer organisations and their regional networks, as well as partner organisations active in food security stockpiling, from the seventeen countries of the ECOWAS-UEMOA-CILSS region, assessed the management of local stockpiles – also known as the ‘first line of defence’ of the regional storage strategy.

This consultation provided an in-depth assessment of the management of local stocks, examining their level of functionality, the governance mechanisms in place, and the procedures for procuring, managing and replenishing stocks.

Participants assessed the results achieved in terms of preventing and responding to food crises, in particular the ability of these mechanisms to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to staple foods during lean periods or in the event of shocks. Discussions also focused on best practices developed at community level, the difficulties encountered in mobilising financial resources, access to institutional markets, the management of storage infrastructure, and the challenges relating to coordination between the various stakeholders. Local storage operators also highlighted the lack of information on stock availability and their limited capacity to supply the Regional Food Security Reserve (RFSR).

As a key instrument of regional solidarity within ECOWAS for the prevention and management of food and nutrition crises in West Africa, the Regional Reserve has achieved significant results since its creation in 2013. However, changes in the regional context and the growing scale of food and nutrition challenges now make it necessary to review its strategic and operational framework as part of the revision of the Regional Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP).

This review of the regional strategy also calls for adjustments to the rules and operating procedures of the Regional Food Security Reserve (RFSR), as the third line of defence in the regional strategy.

The work undertaken is based on building on existing achievements, analysing the lessons learnt from the implementation of the regional storage strategy, and assessing developments in the regional context and projections for the next ten years. 

At the end of four days of discussions, organised into plenary sessions and working groups, the participants compiled a collection of experiences, lessons learnt and best practices currently in use on the ground, as well as their expectations for the future.

In light of emerging issues and changes observed at regional and national levels, the participants engaged in an in-depth discussion on adapting and strengthening the regional food security stockpiling framework. These discussions helped to identify the main areas for improvement in the current strategy, in line with ECOWAP’s guidelines, particularly regarding stock governance, coordination between the different levels of storage (local, national and regional), sustainable financing of the systems, and the establishment of platforms to obtain information on stock availability in order to respond to food and nutrition crises.

The work has also identified further needs in terms of research, decision-support tools, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, digital information and early warning systems, and, finally, capacity-building for stakeholders. These elements should help to guide and frame the envisaged developments, with a view to ensuring a regional strategy that is more effective, inclusive and resilient, and better adapted to the new food and nutrition security challenges within the Community.

The work resulted in a matrix of proposals and recommendations, including reform options that could effectively inform the process of revising the Regional Food Security Storage Strategy as well as the regional agricultural policy.

It is good to note that the regional food security reserve receives support from the World Bank as part of the implementation of the West African Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP). The reserve’s response capacity was strengthened in 2025. Indeed, the available food stocks are sufficient to support 4,807,609 vulnerable people in the region for one month, representing a 9 per cent increase compared with 2024 (4,424,415 people), and achieving 132 per cent of the programme’s final target (2026).

At dawn, as the first lorries leave the bustling markets of Maradi, in Niger, the road to neighbouring countries stretches out like a promise. In the back of the trailers, sacks of onions, tiger nuts, cowpeas and groundnuts, carefully stacked, await crossing the borders to reach the market stalls of Ghana or Togo. Under the Sahel sun, the lorries laden with produce move slowly, as if carrying with them the hopes of thousands of producers.

But for a long time, this journey has been anything but a simple crossing. For traders, hauliers and farmers in the region, transporting agricultural produce from one country to another often feels like a journey fraught with obstacles.

Here, borders are not just lines drawn on a map. They consist of forms to fill in, checks to pass through and procedures to follow.

For Abdou Magagi, a Nigerien haulier for over fifteen (15) years, every journey is an uncertain adventure. “We can spend hours, sometimes a whole day, at a single checkpoint,” he points out. “The lorries queue up, and the paperwork is checked for several hours. Meanwhile, the goods lose value and we lose money.”

In Makeni, Sierra Leone, rice farmer Mariama Kamara observes with resignation the limitations of the trade system between West African countries. “We produce a lot of rice here,” she explains. “But selling across the border is complicated. The procedures are lengthy and costly. Many farmers prefer to sell locally, even at a lower price. ”

As a result, intra-regional trade in West Africa remains limited despite the dynamism of the region’s agriculture, accounting for only around 12 per cent of total exports – far behind Asia (59 per cent) or Europe (69 per cent).

These realities are now documented with figures through the Scorecard

Faced with these challenges, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), with the support of the West African Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP/PRSA) funded by the World Bank, has decided to take action.

To better understand the barriers and guide reforms, a new tool has been introduced. This is the ECOWAS Agricultural Trade and Markets Scorecard, known as the Scorecard.

Behind this technical name lies a powerful tool. The dashboard collects and analyses data on agricultural trade policies, customs procedures, transport infrastructure and agricultural input markets.

It aims to provide decision-makers with a clear picture of the barriers hindering regional trade and to measure progress made in implementing common trade policies.

The Scorecard highlights countries’ strengths and weaknesses in the context of agri-food trade, raises awareness of the status of trade policy implementation, and strengthens the implementation of existing policy frameworks at national level. In the medium and long term, it helps to improve the overall trade environment and increase intra-regional trade in agri-food products, with the aim of enhancing the resilience of the West African food system.

In late 2024 and early 2025, the tool was first tested in Ghana, Niger, Sierra Leone, Togo and Chad – five (05) pilot countries where national technical teams collected and analysed data in the field.

The figures tell the same story. On average, a trader spends six (06) days gathering and processing the documents required to export or import agricultural products, plus a further 1.6 days completing customs formalities. Even once these procedures are complete, the road remains fraught with obstacles. It takes them around one day to travel 100 kilometres, with at least two (02) road checks along that same route.

According to the data collected, traders spend, on average, nearly 10 per cent of the value of their goods on costs relating to documentation, border formalities and transport. Even before their goods reach the market, a portion of their profits has already evaporated.

The data collected quickly highlighted the persistent challenges. For example, despite the objective of creating a regional common market, the implementation of ECOWAS trade policies and regulations averages only around 30 per cent in the pilot countries. The ambition to remove customs duties, quotas and trade restrictions, first envisaged in the late 1990s, has been realised by only around 25 per cent.

In 2022, 90 per cent of imported agricultural products and inputs were still subject to customs duties or equivalent taxes. Furthermore, 60 per cent of regional trade was still subject to trade restrictions or bans. At the same time, three-quarters of agri-food exports remained subject to export taxes and more than half to import quotas.

Despite the many challenges and constraints in complying with ECOWAS trade policies and regulations, progress has been noted. Satisfactory progress has been made in implementing reforms aimed at facilitating trade within the ECOWAS region. 

The Common External Tariff (CET) is now effectively applied across all pilot countries, contributing to the harmonisation of tariff policies and greater predictability in trade. At the same time, obstacles relating to the processing of certificates of origin (CO) and other cross-border commercial documents have been removed or significantly reduced, thereby simplifying procedures, shortening processing times and reducing costs for economic operators. There has also been an increase in mutual recognition and more efficient processing of commercial documents between the pilot countries and other Member States, thereby enhancing the smooth flow of intra-Community trade. Finally, all pilot countries have put in place monitoring mechanisms, cross-border redress systems and appropriate consultation frameworks for dealing with non-tariff measures, significantly improving the management and resolution of trade barriers.

Various recommendations to stakeholders and partners to improve the situation…

The ECOWAS Agricultural Trade and Market Scoreboard should be fully utilised as a strategic tool for monitoring progress towards achieving the objectives of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (TLS) as applied to agricultural products and inputs.

• In order to achieve the objectives of this tool, in the short term it is essential to reduce and streamline the number of checkpoints along regional trade corridors, whilst in the long term, strategic partnerships must be developed to modernise the road infrastructure serving these corridors.
• At the same time, countries are called upon to systematically identify existing barriers and draw up action plans with specific deadlines in order to strengthen collaboration, coordination and cooperation in the areas of customs, administration and border procedures.
• Sustained efforts, also underpinned by clear deadlines, are needed to update and significantly expand the list of registered agricultural inputs, with a view to greater harmonisation. Furthermore, in order to stimulate competition, it is essential to identify and remove barriers to private-sector integration in the agricultural inputs sector, whilst actively encouraging its participation.
• The development and large-scale implementation of a comprehensive capacity-building and training plan are essential to build a critical mass of accredited professionals within the seed and fertiliser value chains.
• Finally, at national and regional levels, stakeholders will need to continue raising awareness amongst decision-makers and other stakeholders to ensure the recommendations are implemented. Following the 2025 data collection phase, the next phase will focus on monitoring the implementation of the recommendations whilst extending the tool to other ECOWAS countries with a view to improving trade both within and between countries.

West African leaders and partners ended the West Africa Rice Investment Roundtable with a clear and strong message: the region needs more investment in rice to boost food security, cut imports, and create jobs.

The two-day event –convened by Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank, and hosted by the Government of Ghana— brought together ministers, 15 country delegations, investors, agribusiness leaders, and technical experts. Their goal was to support the sourcing of concrete financial and technical partnerships to support their National Rice Investment Action Plans. With demand for rice rising faster than local production, participants stressed the need for large, coordinated investment to help West Africa move closer toward rice self-sufficiency by 2035.

Targeted Investment Areas

 The roundtable focused on practical investment opportunities across the rice value chain. These included irrigation, seed systems, machinery, milling, storage, transport, and trade. A major outcome was the presentation of a strong regional pipeline of projects based on national rice strategies. Participants also called for better policy coordination, risk-sharing tools, and stronger public-private partnerships to turn plans into real projects.

Regional Collaborations

The meeting also strengthened commitment among governments, regional bodies, development partners, and the private sector to work more closely together. Participants backed stronger follow-up through regional coordination platforms, including the ECOWAS Rice Observatory, and built the momentum for a Regional Rice Investment Compact to guide the next steps.

By bringing key public and private actors around one regional agenda, the roundtable showed development value, commercial and job creation potential for the rice sector. It also highlighted the importance of strong partnerships to build a more competitive, resilient, and inclusive rice economy in West Africa.   

Mobilized Resources 

The Regional Rice Investment Roundtable mobilized over US$1.54 billion in firm commitments across participating countries, demonstrating strong momentum toward accelerating rice sector transformation and food security in West Africa. A total of 111 commitments were recorded, including 24 public commitments ready for announcement, 32 commitments under discussion, and 55 expressions of interest from Multilateral Development Banks, Financial Institutions, Donors and Private sector investors.

Launch of Ghana’s AgriConnect Compact

On the sidelines of the event, the Government of Ghana, supported by the World Bank Group, launched its AgriConnect Compact on June 3. This country-led initiative puts agriculture at the center of Ghana’s economic transformation, job creation, and resilience agenda. It aims to create more than 2.6 million jobs, improve food and nutrition security for nearly 3 million people, and attract a $3.5 billion investment program over five years. The Compact focuses on priority value chains such as rice, maize, cocoa, oil palm, and poultry, while supporting reforms to raise productivity and attracting private investment. With a systems approach that includes irrigation, mechanization, climate-smart agriculture, and digital innovation, the initiative shows Ghana’s commitment to modern, market-led agriculture and offers a strong example for the region.

On 2–3 March 2026, in Lomé, Togo, more than 80 participants from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad and Togo, as well as from CILSS, CORAF, ECOWAS and the World Bank, gathered to review the support missions carried out by countries and regional institutions in implementing the programme. The Lomé meeting provided an opportunity to strengthen the coordination of regional and national activities, promote the exchange of experiences and reinforce synergies between all stakeholders and partners in the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP).

Following the regional review meeting of support missions held in Accra, Ghana, in March 2025, FSRP implementation stakeholders and partners reviewed progress made and made the necessary adjustments to achieve the programme's objectives during the 2026 meeting in Lomé, Togo.

Activities related to digital advisory services for food crisis prevention, sustainability and adaptation of the productive base, and facilitation of intraregional trade in West Africa were reviewed at both the regional and country levels. Discussions also focused on strengthening coordination between the regional and national levels to maximise synergies and enhance mutual learning among FSRP stakeholders.

Overall, it appears that the actions carried out in the countries and at the regional level have reached a total of 3,528,5743 direct beneficiaries, 35% of whom are women, since its implementation in all eight (08) beneficiary countries, namely Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad and Togo.

Despite a difficult context for implementing activities on the ground due to socio-political and security challenges, major achievements have been noted in terms of people's access to climate and agricultural information, the creation and dissemination of resilient technologies and innovations, the facilitation of cross-border trade and support for stakeholders in the development of agricultural reserves. These results were welcomed by partners at all levels, who reiterated the need to strengthen exchanges between national and regional stakeholders, a specific feature of the programme, as highlighted during the opening ceremony of the meeting by

the Executive Director of the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (ARAA), the Executive Director of CORAF, the representative of CILSS, the FSRP Programme Manager (TTL) at the World Bank and the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Animal Resources and Food Sovereignty of Togo.

They also highlighted the unique nature of the FSRP, which addresses a wide range of issues including agrometeorology, climate change, the employability of women and young people, food safety, trade in agricultural products, the free movement of agricultural products, sustainable land management, rational management of natural resources, and food crises.

In view of these major achievements at both country and regional level, the FSRP is part of a sustained effort to contribute effectively to the prevention and management of agricultural and food crises in the sub-region, to strengthen the resilience of agro-sylvo-pastoral production systems and to facilitate trade in agricultural goods and inputs within and beyond national borders in West Africa.

In-depth discussions have made it possible to capitalise on good practices and promote better integration of innovative approaches aimed at improving food security, the resilience of agricultural systems and access to markets.

A special session devoted to a video competition on success stories provided an opportunity to view eleven (11) productions highlighting concrete results achieved at both the country and regional levels on a variety of themes. Following the jury's evaluation, the videos from Mali, CORAF and Niger were ranked third, second and first respectively and were awarded trophies.

The 2026 session summarising the support missions to countries and regional institutions in the implementation of the programme was an opportunity to pay tribute to Ms Maty BADIAO, Regional Coordinator of the FSRP, who has chosen to step down from her position to take a well-deserved rest after more than forty (40) years dedicated to agricultural development in the sub-region. The participants unanimously praised her exemplary commitment, professional rigour and high standards of work, which have marked her entire career. They expressed their deep gratitude for her remarkable contribution to the advancement of the agricultural sector and the strengthening of regional initiatives to promote the resilience of food systems in West Africa.

Intra-regional trade in agricultural and food products is crucial for West Africa's food system resilience, but persistent challenges result in lower official trade flows compared to other regions of Africa. Several policies have been formulated to facilitate and strengthen trade flows throughout the subregion. These include, among others, the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS), the ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Whilst the adoption of these policies and frameworks may be lauded, the evidence suggests that ECOWAS Member States are struggling with the implementation of these normative policies.

Subsequently, through the World Bank financed US$ 1.2 Billion West Africa Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP), ECOWAS has designed and introduced the ECOWAS Agriculture Trade & Market Scorecard (EATM-S) as a flagship initiative, to monitor and enhance member states’ compliance with agreed standards.

The Good

West Africa has been a well-established, integrated region since the early 8th century and was home to the first known African empires, such as the Ghana empire and the Mali empire (also known as Mandé) in the 13th century, which included territories of several current West African countries. Both empires had strong trade relationships with their neighbours. They had large gold endowments and were at the crossroads of traders coming from both the north (Maghreb region) and south (Soudano region). In addition to gold, copper, and salt, agricultural products were highly traded in the region (Source: Niane, 1987). Trade was facilitated by the presence of homogenous ethnolinguistic groups established in several countries, which were later fragmented in the colonial period. These included the Mandingo group - present in Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Gambia, as well as the Fulani group - present in Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Benin, Niger, and Nigeria. (Source: Bouet et al, 2024).

Created in 1975, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was established to pursue stability and regional integration in Africa and, over time, has expanded its mandate to include political dimensions. A major milestone was achieved shortly thereafter, with the launch of the ETLSin 1979 to foster regional trade. The ETLS first covered agricultural and unprocessed products (for food security reasons) and handicrafts, before it was extended to industrial products in 1990.

In that light, Ghana, a prominent member of ECOWAS, continues to participate in ECOWAS’ regional integration efforts through our commitment to ratification and harmonization of several trade policies and initiatives such as the ETLS, ECOWAP and the establishment of AfCFTA in Ghana.  

The BAD

Irrespective of all these regional strides, the harmony hoped for, is but a mirage across the sub-region. As we speak, there is no evidence that this phenomenon has changed over the period. Barriers, checkpoints, never-ending pull-overs and road inspections still exist. High custom duties and other petty charges, near-intimidating documentation requirements at borders, administrative obstacles, long hours and delays, restrictions and prohibitions and poor road infrastructure across countries persist; not to mention, robbery, harassments and abuse of female traders, and civil wars continue to plague trade activities in the sub-region.

When it comes to traders in food and agri produce, the perilous impacts cut even deeper. Imagine moving tomatoes from one country to another and doing that through numerous barrier-stops, getting pulled-over and parked for hours, exposing foodstuffs to the mercy of extreme weather. This certainly leads to the foodstuffs losing their nutritional value – that is, if they ever get to their destination markets in any marketable shape. This erodes the profit margin of the trader - hence the tendency to marginally hike prices of the few that make it to the market, to make up for the losses. It also discourages more traders from participating in the enterprise, leaving the trade to only a handful of traders to dictate terms in the marketplace. Livestock are also not spared the dread. Travelling long distances on mostly bumpy roads disorients them, in addition to dehydration under the scorching sun across time zones. Some eventually are unable to survive the journey.

The Promise

In view of these, the ECOWAS EATM-S performance measurement and tracking mechanism aims to identify gaps in the national implementation of regional agricultural and food trade policies.

Through the EATM-S, ECOWAS is monitoring and assessing the progress or otherwise being made by member countries towards breaking barriers, igniting speed, cutting costs and significantly increasing the volumes of trade in food and agricultural produce (particularly maize and rice across the sub-region from 20% to 30% by 2028). As part of the assessment process, public authorities and regulatory bodies across the sub-region - like Customs and Standards regulators, Chambers of Commerce, trade experts/practitioners and business advocacy groups, were surveyed for vital information to track national implementation of regional policies and regulations. Manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, cross-border traders, forwarding agents, logistics/shipping and transport companies also divulged some critical information.

ECOWAS’ investigative focus was on a range of cross border administrative protocols and processes like the extent and value of intra-regional imports and exports of agricultural goods and inputs, restrictions. Time spent, costs, prohibitions and documentation requirements, custom duties or other charges, as well as the quality of transport infrastructure and frequency of road inspections and checkpoints were all under scrutiny. The outcome of this assessment will further increase transparency and accountability of agricultural trade within the sub-region. The results of this year’s scores are expected to be released within the 3rd quarter of 2025, when each member country’s performance in enhancing or stifling cross-border trade would be out for all to see.

Ghana’s strategic Pitch

At the dawn of his second term, President Mahama embarked on a number of ‘Good Neighbourliness Tours’ aimed at reinforcing diplomatic and economic relations with Ghana’s neighbouring countries. During his visit to Mali, he highlighted the vital role that long-distance truck drivers play in the economies of both nations. He acknowledged the existing challenges faced by these transporters, including cumbersome customs procedures, roadblocks, delays at border crossings, and unofficial fees imposed along the route.  The President expressed his administration’s unwavering commitment to strengthening regional trade by ensuring that all barriers hindering the smooth transportation of goods between Ghana and Mali are removed. Similarly, in Burkina Faso, President Mahama announced ongoing discussions to introduce direct daily flights between Accra and Ouagadougou. This initiative aims to boost trade, connectivity and cross-border relations between Ghana and Burkina Faso, further strengthening bilateral ties. 

These moves from Ghana are indeed crucial for fostering intra-regional trade and economic growth and enhancing relations between Ghana and its neighbours.

Already, through World Bank funding, FSRP Ghana is upgrading facilities such as laboratories and offices belonging to the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) at 4 border stations located at Paga, Hamile, Sampa and Aflao. The Project is also set to upgrade selected bulk markets – Bolga, Abofour, Ejura, Agogo and Denu - where substantial intra-regional trade in rice, maize, among others are carried out. These interventions would not only facilitate improvement in Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) activities but would also boost agricultural trade between Ghana and its neighbours.

Shadows of ECOMOG

‘FSRP Ghana’ believes that where trade and commerce fail to go, conflicts and hunger go! In the past, ECOWAS was primarily recognised for its peacekeeping activities within the subregion, particularly through the ECOWAS Cease-fire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG). Ghana has been pivotal in these efforts geared at fostering and entrenching regional peace and stability - through the contribution of troops, ammunition, intelligence, funding and sterling diplomacy. But now, marching forward, ECOWAS, the World Bank, Ghana and sister FSRP nations are taking up arms against hunger, climate perils and food insecurity. From the perspective of ‘FSRP Ghana’, ECOWAS-led peace-keeping efforts offered a platform for Ghana to showcase her GENERALS. In like manner, an ECOWAS-led campaign against food insecurity should produce ‘Generals-In-Agriculture’ for Ghana!

Around forty representatives from ECOWAS member states, CILSS, UEMOA and experts on agricultural and legal issues and their technical and development partners met in Lomé from 10 to 12 November 2025 to examine and approve draft reports and regulations on administrative and technical measures to facilitate trade of agricultural, forestry, pastoral and fishery products in West Africa and the Sahel.

This regional meeting, organized by the ECOWAS Commission, was an opportunity to review the contents of the consultants' reports on obstacles to the free movement of agricultural products at borders, as well as some inconsistencies in existing regulations.

Intra-community trade of agricultural products, cereals, roots, livestock, horticultural products and processed agri-food products plays a key role in stabilising prices, enhancing regional value chains and promoting food sovereignty. It is the main source of income for most rural households and a pillar of regional food security.

Despite its importance, the smooth flow of regional trade faces a series of persistent challenges, including tariff and non-tariff barriers, local restrictions and other export and import bans, which hinder the free movement of goods. These obstacles are compounded by administrative delays resulting from complex customs procedures. In addition, there is a lack of awareness of the regional rules governing intraregional trade, mainly the provisions of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (TLS). These structural difficulties are exacerbated by inadequate logistics and storage infrastructure and a lack of coordination between States, the latter manifested in the poor implementation of reforms that have been adopted.

To help remove the above-mentioned constraints, the ECOWAS Commission conducted in 2019 a study to identify administrative and technical measures promoting the free movement of agricultural, forestry, pastoral and fishery products in West Africa. Five years on, in view of regulatory developments, it was deemed necessary not only to update the draft reports of this study, but also to propose draft regulations aimed at harmonising the administrative and technical measures identified by the study to facilitate intraregional agricultural trade.

In working groups and plenary sessions, participants reviewed the documents submitted for their consideration and made the necessary corrections and updates.

Over three days, participants shared their experiences and ideas and made suggestions for improving the draft regulations proposed by the consultants. The aim of the work was to make the TLS operational by providing the region with high-quality documents, thereby helping to build a more prosperous and sustainable future for the sub-region.

The draft regulations, enriched by the amendments made at the Lomé meeting, will shortly be submitted to the ECOWAS Commission's directorates for amendment before being forwarded to the States for consultation with key players in cross-border trade. The documents will then be submitted to the relevant experts for approval by the Council of Ministers. This extensive consultation aims to ensure ownership of the content of the texts and, consequently, their implementation once adopted by the regional authorities.

On 29 October 2025, ECOWAS, through the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) and with the support of the World Bank under the Food System Resilience Programme in West Africa (PRSA/FSRP), organised a regional workshop by videoconference to validate and disseminate the results of the feasibility study for a regional agricultural and food risk financing instrument for the benefit of the Regional Food Security Reserve (RFSR) a regional workshop to validate and disseminate the results of the feasibility study for a regional agricultural and food risk financing instrument for the benefit of the Regional Food Security Reserve (RRSA).

The meeting brought together some 40 representatives from member states, regional institutions (ECOWAS, UEMOA, CILSS, BIDC), technical and financial partners (World Bank, WFP, FAO) and the WTW/Munich Re consultancy. Over the course of a day, participants approved the technical results of the study, discussed the operational conclusions and identified the main steps for implementing the future mechanism.

Since its creation in 2013, the RRSA has been an essential instrument of solidarity and rapid response to food crises. However, in the face of intensifying shocks and growing financial needs, the mobilisation of physical stocks alone is no longer sufficient to ensure regional food security in the long term. It is with this in mind that the design of a regional disaster risk financing (DRF) mechanism was initiated, with the aim of complementing and strengthening the function of the regional reserve.

This innovative mechanism will ultimately enable ECOWAS to have access to advance financial resources, triggered in an objective, transparent and rapid manner with parametric indices. This is a major development, marking the transition from a reactive approach to a genuine culture of prevention.

The feasibility study, conducted by the Willis Towers Watson (WTW) and Munich Re consortium under the supervision of the World Bank, laid the technical and institutional foundations necessary for the operationalisation of this mechanism. Participants were able to examine in detail the climate and food risks characterising the region, based on SPI-3 indices and Harmonised Framework analyses. They also reviewed comparative results for different financial instruments (parametric insurance, contingent credit lines, etc.).

Discussions revealed the current undercapacity of the RRSA, which limits its role as a third line of defence at the regional level, as well as the immediate unsustainability of stand-alone parametric insurance due to its cost and institutional requirements. Participants emphasised the need to structure a financial reserve, define a predictable trigger system and explore hybrid approaches, including contingent credit solutions and partnerships with the ARC and WFP.

At the end of the proceedings, the three technical reports were validated and the following recommendations were made: (i) experiment, in the short term, with pilot solutions based on the SPI-3 and CH indices, while strengthening the operational and financial governance of the RRSA; (ii) consolidate, in the medium term, the technical and institutional capacities of the reserve and test a regional multi-index mechanism; (iii) operationalise, in the long term, an autonomous regional insurance mechanism, integrated into the ECOWAS resilience and food sovereignty strategy.

A total of thirty (30) inspectors representing the various structures in charge of health control in Benin attended the training on the Harmonised Guide to Health Inspection and Risk-Based Decision-Making in Cotonou from 9 to 11 September 2025.

Organised as part of the implementation of the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (PRSA), this meeting was an opportunity to strengthen the capacities of Benin's inspectors with a view to enabling the country to take advantage of the regional and even continental market for agricultural and agri-food products to improve food safety and nutrition.

As a reminder, the Health Inspection Guide developed by ECOWAS was adopted with a view to, harmonise inspection and decision-making methods based on risk and scientific data, increase transparency in inspections, and facilitate the free movement of agricultural, forestry and pastoral products by removing technical barriers to trade in ECOWAS and Sahel member states.

As in other countries, training on the Harmonised Health Inspection Guide was followed on 12 September 2025 by a day of awareness-raising for cross-border trade stakeholders on the Harmonised SPS Certificate. The adoption of this SPS certificate responds to the concern to harmonise national SPS standards and adapt them to international best practices, including the World Trade Organisation's SPS Agreement and Annex 7 of the AfCFTA (on SPS), with a view to reducing technical barriers to intra-community trade in agricultural, forestry and pastoral products, while preserving human and animal health and plant protection.

 Fifty participants from both the private and public sectors attended this awareness-raising day, organised with the support of the Benin Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In addition to the presentation of the Harmonised Phytosanitary Certificate, participants familiarised themselves with other protocols adopted by ECOWAS to facilitate intra-community trade, namely: the Trade Liberalisation Scheme (TLS), the Common External Tariff (CET), Community transit, etc. 

The World Bank regional team conducted a support mission to the Food System Resilience Programme in West Africa (FSRP) at ECOWAS from 25 to 26 August 2025. The meeting, held at the headquarters of the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) in Lomé, Togo, assessed the progress of the Regional Trade Facilitation and Overall Coordination components and identified solutions to improve programme implementation.

The World Bank and ECOWAS teams were led by Dr Ashwini Sebastian, FSRP TTL, and Mr Alain Sy Traore, Director of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR), respectively.

Over two days, discussions focused on the main achievements of the first half of 2025 and the level of implementation of the recommendations made at the mid-term review workshop in January 2025.

Overall, ECOWAS has made significant progress in implementing the FSRP. The coordination team was encouraged to intensify its efforts on technical activities that could help facilitate agricultural trade in West Africa to achieve the programme's results framework indicators.