Ecowas

The second support mission for the implementation of the West African Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP/PRSA) for the year 2023, from the World Bank to ECOWAS/ARAA was held from 25 to 27 October 2023 in Lomé at the RAAA Headquarters.

Discussions between the World Bank and ECOWAS focused on the PRSF's achievements in 2023 and planning for 2024. Specific topics discussed included monitoring and evaluation, the ECOWAS agenda on soil health and fertilisers, the ECOWAS Rice Observatory, environmental protection and the visibility of the Programme.

Ms Katie Freeman, PRSP Task Team Leader (TTL) at the World Bank, congratulated the Regional Coordination (ECOWAS/ARAA) on the progress made and encouraged it to continue its efforts to achieve the PRSP's development objective. Mr Alain Sy Traoré, ECOWAS Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, praised the WB's multi-faceted support for all PRSP stakeholders before underlining ECOWAS's commitment to the success of the PRSP, with a view to improving food security in West Africa.

Dr Mariame Maiga, Regional Gender and Social Development Advisor at CORAF, carried out a gender technical support mission for the Regional Coordination of the Food Systems Resilience Programme (FSRP) and for the managers of the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (ARAA) from 18 to 22 September, in Lomé, Togo. The support consisted of meetings with members of the FSRP's regional coordination team and awareness-raising among ARAA managers and project coordinators to ensure that gender is better taken into account in project and programme activities.

Together with the regional PRSF coordination team, Dr Maiga reviewed the activities planned and in progress to assess the extent to which gender had been taken into account, and took corrective action if necessary.  Ongoing communication, monitoring and evaluation, and environmental protection activities were also screened.

With the ECOWAS experts in charge of the markets and trade integration component, the working session began by raising awareness of the need to take account of the gender and youth dimensions in the implementation of the component.

The awareness-raising session for ARAA managers and project coordinators involved explaining in simple terms what gender is, which is defined as the socially constructed attributes and opportunities associated with being a man or a woman. It is also how our society defines masculinity and femininity in terms of appropriate behaviour for men and women.

The trainer stressed that gender equality and non-discrimination on the grounds of sex are fundamental human rights, recognised in international declarations and mentioned in most national constitutions.

In view of the interest shown by participants in the gender awareness-raising sessions, Dr Maiga said she was prepared to support not only the regional coordination and the experts of the component on market and trade integration, but also the key activities of the RAAA if CORAF is asked to do so, in order to ensure that gender is better taken into account in all project and programme activities.

Experts from the West African Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) in charge of environmental and social protection, including gender-based violence (GBV), met in Accra, Ghana, from 5 to 8 September 2023 to review the implementation of activities in the countries and at regional level.

In four days of work marked by exchanges experience, experts from Ghana, Mali, Sierra Leone, Chad, Togo, ECOWAS and CORAF and their counterparts from Niger, CILSS and the Bank (online) took stock of the implementation of recommendations in the various environmental and social safeguard instruments prepared by countries and partners. The representatives of the countries and regional institutions (ECOWAS, CORAF and CILSS) presented the complaints management mechanisms and the committees set up to make them operational.

Through the various presentations, the experts gained a better understanding of the concepts of gender, gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse/sexual harassment (SEA/HS).

This regional meeting was also an opportunity to provide country experts and PRSP implementation partners with information on the appropriate mechanisms for the efficient implementation of the various safeguard instruments that have been developed and validated.

Together, the participants defined environmental and social safeguard indicators before drawing up an action plan to implement these recommendations by country and by institution, and helped national experts to draw up GBV/EAS/HS action for each country.

The regional meeting ended with the drafting of a roadmap for monitoring and supporting countries in order harmonise the inclusion of environmental and social safeguard aspects, including GBV/EAS/HS, in the various activities.

It should be remembered that compliance with environmental and social standards during the implementation of PRSP activities is a legal requirement of partner countries and institutions. Taking into account environmental and social safeguards not only contributes to the achievement of the project's objectives, but also ensures its sustainability and ownership by the implementing partners. It is within this framework that all the countries plus the partner institutions have developed, validated and implemented safeguard instruments in line with the standards set out in the World Bank's new environmental and social framework. Taking into account the recommendations when implementing these instruments remains a prerequisite for any PRSP activity. 

At a time when, internationally, countries are competing with each other in terms of standardisation, we note that in West Africa and the Sahel, little scientific data is provided for the development of standards in the agri-food sector.

To find a lasting solution, the ECOWAS Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR), with the support of its partners, invited more than 50 experts to reflect on and propose an innovative data generation mechanism to contribute to the work of the Codex Alimentarius from 28 to 30 August in Lomé.

The three days of discussions provided an opportunity to build the capacity of experts to fill this data gap, in order to improve monitoring, inspection and data generation to produce reliable results, and to take advantage of the comparative advantages of laboratories in the region for capacity building and forward, medium- and long-term planning.

In addition, the exchanges also contributed to the networking of laboratories at national and regional level and facilitated the continuous flow of information on Codex data requirements and their integration into national food analysis activities and research programmes.

Participants also identified priority Codex work for the region relating to contaminants, food additives, pesticides and veterinary medicines, and food and microbiological hygiene.

Organised by ECOWAS with the support of the Inter-African Bureau for African Resources (AU-IBAR), the FAO, the WHO and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Codex-US office, this meeting was held within the framework of the actions of the regulatory convergence forum on food safety set up in July 2022 and therefore constitutes a satellite platform for reflection and data generation for the work of Codex.

The meeting ended with discussions on the procedural and governance issues involved in setting up the ECOWAS and Sahel Regional Food Safety Laboratory Network.

Environmental and social issues, including aspects of gender-based violence, are given pride of place in the workings of the institutions. The Regional Agency for Agri-Culture and Food (ARAA), whose mandate is to ensure the technical execution of regional programmes and investment plans contributing to the implementation of the Regional Agricultural Policy, has a duty to integrate the application of environmental and social measures into its operations. This is why, as part of the implementation of environmental and social safeguard activities, the Regional Coordination Unit of the West African Food System Resilience Programme (PRSA) organised a capacity-building workshop for RAAA staff on the concepts of environmental and social safeguards, including gender-based violence, from 7 to 8 August 2023 in Lomé.

These two days of training were an opportunity for the forty or so participants to exchange views with the training team made up of : Mr Mohamed Youba Sokona, environmental protection expert at the World Bank; Mr Baidy Tall, social development expert at CORAF; Ms Assétou S. Kaboré, gender-based violence (GBV) expert at AGRHYMET, and Mr Gaoussou Diarra, environmental protection expert at ARAA.

Through explanations supported by concrete examples drawn from the experience of implementing previous projects, participants gained a better understanding of the principles and operation of the World Bank's Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), which serves to protect people and the environment in a range of areas. It focuses on institutional and human capacity building and country ownership of projects. The CES also promotes greater efficiency, flexibility and proportionality, and takes into account the need for consolidation and harmonisation of policies between donors and other entities involved in financing. The ESC is based on 10 standards.

The Complaints Mechanism is a system for receiving, investigating and dealing with complaints arising from the implementation of project activities in a transparent, fair and effective manner. It is an instrument that gives stakeholders the right to denounce abuses, shortcomings, damage, breaches of law or past agreements, and to request compensation or the cessation of the prejudicial act.

ARAA staff were made aware of the measures and codes relating to gender-based violence and the habits to adopt within the organisation and between colleagues.

The workshop ended with the establishment of the ARAA Complaints Management Committee, made up of : BANE Abdoulaye, Legal Adviser and Chairman of the Committee; Gaoussou DIARRA, FSRP Environmental Safeguard Expert, Secretary of the Committee; Carine SOME, Communications Assistant and Committee Communications Officer; Gloria AKPOTO, Administrative Assistant and Armel OGUNIYI, Monitoring and Evaluation Expert, both members of the Committee.

The Committees role is to respond to questions or clarifications relating to complaints, to find solutions to problems and misunderstandings arising from the implementation of activities and to deal effectively and fairly with claims and complaints. 

The West African Food System Resilience Programme (PRSA) intends to raise its profile among stakeholders and disseminate its results for greater impact. To achieve this, and taking into account the diversity and multiplicity of stakeholders and partners, the programme has just validated its communication strategy and plan and knowledge management, from 10 to 12 July in Niamey.

In order to facilitate the implementation of the PRSA, communication is at the heart of its actions and contributes to the achievement of the Project's objectives. For this reason, the development and implementation of a communications strategy and plan are an integral part of the overall strategy for implementing the PRSA.

For 3 days, PRSA communication and monitoring-evaluation experts met to finalise the programme's communication strategy on the basis of the provisional version that had been drawn up with the involvement of all stakeholders and partners. As a reminder, a group of experts made up of communication managers from the institutions implementing the PRSA and from the countries, worked on collecting information on communication needs, categorising stakeholders and partners, analysing communication issues and problems in West Africa in relation to climate change, agro-ecology, regional trade facilitation, etc. Based on the data collected, the draft communication strategy and plan were drawn up.

All sections of the draft documents were examined to improve their content before being validated.

In addition, the draft PRSA graphic charter was examined to provide the programme with a visibility manual. The communication officers were made aware of the need to set up Twitter and Facebook pages and accounts to communicate results and raise the profile of the PRSA. Each communications specialist will draw up a detailed communications plan to facilitate implementation of the communications strategy in the field.

The PRSA is now in its second year of field operations, and the communication and visibility manuals that have just been approved will make a major contribution not only to raising awareness of the programme but also to better disseminating its results. 

With almost 42 million people currently facing hunger and malnutrition, and almost 10 million internally displaced people or refugees in neighbouring countries, the West Africa and Sahel region is facing a serious food and nutrition situation.

With a view to finding an urgent response to the situation, the ECOWAS Commission has invited national food crisis management mechanisms, regional organisations and the international humanitarian community to discuss the state of preparedness of the response to food insecurity and improve complementarity/coordination between the various players.

From 25 to 26 July 2023 in Dakar, the stakeholders and partners measured the response capacities of the countries, the region and the partners on the basis of the commitments; identified the gaps between the needs and the available resources and agreed on the complementary mobilisation strategy.

In a consensual manner, the intervention, coordination and monitoring and mechanisms at national and regional level were reviewed to make them more operational. An update was given on the state of food stocks in the countries and at the level of the Regional Food Security Reserve (RRSA), whose intervention are progressing in the service of countries in crisis.

The results of the study commissioned by ECOWAS on the assessment of national and regional response needs and capacities were also shared.

Given the growing number of people in crisis from year to year, targeting mechanisms have been evaluated and national and regional experiences have been shared.   

This meeting was followed a restricted meeting with countries where food, nutrition and pastoral interventions will take place to revise the methodology for monitoring and evaluating national response plans and RRSA interventions, integrating indicators relating to the social and environmental dimensions, the "do no harm" approach, gender equity and food safety, in close collaboration with experts specialising in these fields. It was held on 27 and 28 July 2023. 

Some twenty experts on food safety issues responded to an invitation from the ECOWAS Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR) to review progress and pre-validate the first version of harmonised health inspection and risk-based decision-making guide. From 3 to 6 July 2023 in Dakar, the participants reviewed each section of the draft document to provide additional information and make the necessary corrections.

The guide to harmonised health inspection and risk-based decision-making is a key document in the regulation of the food system in West Africa to harmonise inspection methods and scientific decision-making in ECOWAS member countries and in the Sahel. It will help to ensure the safe trade of agricultural products, increase the transparency of health inspection, the collection and recording of data and speed up the availability of safe products.

Its availability and above all its use will make it possible to meet the recurring challenges of food safety issues in relation to Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and also the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (ATF), promote better coordination, collaboration and cooperation and strengthen capacity building as well as increased mobilisation and harmonisation of resources in the West Africa and Sahel region.

The ECOWAS Commission and its partners intend to provide the region with this guide before the end of 2023 through a drafting process that began in May 2023 and will be completed in September/October 2023. The final document is expected October, once it has been approved by the Convergence Committee on Food  Safety. 

The regional coordination of the West African food system resilience programme (PRSA/FSRP) has invited all the programme's monitoring and evaluation specialists to a workshop to design tools for monitoring and collecting data on the programme's results and activities, as well as training on the MESECOPS platform, from 19 to 23 June in Agbélouvé, Togo.

The twenty or so participants from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo, Ghana, Chad, CORAF and CILSS harmonised their understanding of the PRSP's planning, monitoring-evaluation and reporting system, focusing on the MESECOPS platform and the roles of the players involved.

For five days, the PRSP's monitoring and evaluation specialists worked on developing the data collection tools that will serve as evidence of the implementation of the activities and the beneficiaries affected, and familiarised themselves with the methods for integrating the annual work plans and budget (PTBA) into the MESECOPS platform for monitoring and reporting on their implementation in real time.

Through practical exercises preceded by specific examples, the key concepts and main indicators of the PRSP were explained and experiences were also shared, with the aim of "facilitating effective and high-quality monitoring and reporting of PRSP results and activities, thus documenting the multiple interventions in the field and capitalising on the results of activities for the evaluation of the effects and impacts of the PRSP", emphasised Maty BA-DIAO, Regional Coordinator of the PRSP, who chaired the meeting. She encouraged the monitoring and evaluation specialists to put into practice all the knowledge acquired in order to provide the programme with a robust monitoring and evaluation system to ensure the collection, processing, analysis and sharing of information at national and regional levels.

This workshop is the first in a series of meetings to be organised as part of the programme's monitoring and evaluation system. It enabled monitoring and evaluation specialists to gain a common understanding not only of the indicators but also of the data collection and processing tools.

They drew up a joint roadmap with clear actions enabling them to document the FSRP's interventions at national and regional level. 

The regional coordination of the Food System Resilience Programme invited rice sector stakeholders from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Ghana, Togo, Chad and Sierra Leone to a meeting to discuss the ECOWAS Rice Observatory. On 16 June, some thirty stakeholders and partners gained a better understanding of how the Observatory works, as well as the various activities planned to help countries set up multi-stakeholder platforms to boost the rice sector in West Africa.

Rice is the second most consumed cereal in Africa, after maize. In West Africa, where more than two-thirds of the cereals consumed in Sub-Saharan Africa are consumed, rice has seen the greatest growth, with consumption quadrupling over the last 30 years under the triple influence of population growth, strong urbanisation and increased per capita rice consumption. West African consumption has risen from 5 million tonnes in the early 1990s to more than 20 million tonnes by the end of 2021 (FAO, 2022).

In view of its importance in helping to combat food insecurity, rice has been chosen as the main value chain by all PRSP beneficiary countries. In these countries, with the support of ECOWAS through its rice observatory, the aim will be to build the capacity of stakeholders in the value chain and help coordinate investments from production to marketing of rice. The observatory will focus on mapping stakeholders and strengthening their capacity for coordination, data collection and regular communication on the development of the rice value chain. Platforms will be set up to better manage the various processes on the ground, with a strong involvement of the private sector.

Discussions with the countries highlighted the interest shown by players in the rice sector, but also the needs in terms of capacity building. The main actions underway in Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Sierra Leone and Côte d'Ivoire, presented by Dr Boladalé, head of the ECOWAS Rice Observatory, provided a better understanding of the activities to be carried out in the field and, above all, the nature of ECOWAS support.

Better organised rice sectors in the countries with functional platforms will help to strengthen and make operational the West Africa Rice Observatory, which will thus coordinate investments in the rice sector at regional level and inform political decisions for better regulation of rice markets.

The ECOWAS Rice Observatory was set up to address the rice issue in the sub-region. Its main aims are to create a framework for dialogue between stakeholders; strengthen public-private partnerships; coordinate investments by the government, the private sector and technical and financial partners in market-based solutions to support the national rice development strategy; drive the transformation of the rice sector and facilitate access to finance along the entire value chain.