Ecowas

More than 150 participants from West African States and their partners took part in the first General Assembly (GA) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Rice Observatory (ERO), held on 21^st and 22^nd May 2024 in Abuja, Nigeria. Over two days of discussions, the GA took stock of the activities carried out and adopted a Roadmap for accelerating the growth of the rice sector in West Africa.

Established in 2021 to operationalize the ECOWAS Rice Offensive, the ECOWAS Rice Observatory (ERO) coordinates rice sector-related programmes, public/private investments, and policy recommendations for key decision-makers to help West Africa achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2030 through profitable, resilient, and environmentally sustainable agricultural enterprises that contribute to rural economic growth, poverty reduction and equity for women.

After two years of intense work in the countries and at the regional level, ERO presented the main achievements and the strategy documents to be adopted to its main stakeholders: farmers’ organisations, processors and millers, traders and distributors, input suppliers, research institutes, government agencies and ministries, development organisations and NGOs, financial institutions, ERO national sections and members of the rice working groups of the ECOWAS Member States.

Discussions focused on the status of the rice sector in each country, the main initiatives underway to develop the rice value chain, the policy measures adopted in this area, and recommendations for regional action in support of Member States.

At the end of the discussions, the General Assembly adopted the regional roadmap for the development of the rice sector in West Africa, while calling for it to be aligned with the national rice development strategies of the countries concerned, considering their respective priorities.

The West African sub-region produces around 17 million tonnes of milled rice a year. Per capita rice consumption in West Africa is one of the highest in the world, ranging from 100 to 200 kilograms per person per year, depending on the country. In view of this importance, and to ensure self-sufficiency in rice production in the long term, the GA recommended strengthening and involving the private sector, with synergy of action between agro-dealers and input distributors in the countries, as well as the involvement of national and regional banking institutions.

The conclusions and recommendations of the ERO’s first General Assembly were examined by its Board at its meeting on 23 May 2024, with a view to drawing up an action plan for their implementation. The Board, chaired by Mr Alain SY TRAORE, ECOWAS Director for Agriculture and Rural Development, includes representatives of scientific partners, development partners, the private sector, and countries.

The holding of the first ERO GA is an important milestone in the implementation of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive, which is itself a major framework for the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy, ECOWAP.

As the rice sector is far from self-sufficient in West Africa, with most countries still import a significant proportion of their rice needs, implementing the recommendations of this meeting will strengthen regional cooperation and partnerships between countries that share similar challenges and opportunities. By getting them to work together, the Rice Observatory will be able to capitalise on each other’s strengths, sharing knowledge and creating synergies that will benefit the whole region.

Under the auspices of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (TLS) Task Force, the ECOWAS Commission’s Customs Union and Taxation Directorate, in collaboration with the regional coordination of the West Africa Food System Resilience Program (FSRP), invited key stakeholders in charge of implementing the TLS in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to a training session on the new rules of the TLS of origin of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (TLS).

The meeting was held from 16 to 18 April 2024 in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and comprised three phases: a consultation meeting between the ETS Task Force and the stakeholders and focal points of the institutions responsible for implementing the ETS; a field visit to the Liberia/Sierra Leone border; and a presentation of the TLS to private-sector economic stakeholders.

Through exchanges and, above all, the sharing of experiences, the capacities of government bodies implementing texts on trade in general and trade in agro-sylvo-pastoral products in particular were strengthened. In addition, private sector players were made aware of the need to better understand and take advantage of the benefits offered by the various trade texts, particularly the SLE. The meeting was also an opportunity to identify the challenges specific to the Mano River Union countries in the implementation of Community texts and to propose appropriate solutions to address them.

It should be remembered that despite the introduction of the SLE to facilitate the free movement of people and goods, those involved in cross-border trade, particularly drivers and transporters, face numerous difficulties along the various corridors. To these challenges must be added the lack of professionalism on the part of those involved, which is often reflected in the absence of the required documentation on loads and the non-conformity of means of transport, representing another factor in hassle and increasing the cost price at the final destination.

These practices have harmful consequences, such as unnecessary delays on the roads, higher transport costs for goods and limited access to product markets. In addition, the transport and marketing of agricultural and livestock products from the EU area are negatively impacted by these obstacles along trade corridors, thereby slowing down the movement of these products from production areas to consumption areas.

To find a solution to this situation, it was strongly recommended, among other things, to: continue to raise awareness among cross-border trade stakeholders so that they take full ownership of the ECOWAS protocols; strengthen the capacities of the National Committees for the Recognition of Community Origin (NRCVOC) of products; strengthen collaboration between the Focal Points of the institutions in charge of implementing the ETS, principally the customs administrations.

Twenty-three (23) stakeholders and partners specialized in agricultural trade and markets in West Africa and Chad now have a better understanding of the ECOWAS Agricultural Trade and Market SCORECARD (EATM-SCORECARD).

The participants, from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Chad and Togo, and partner organisations CILSS and WACTAF (West Africa Association for Cross-Border Trade, in Agro-forestry-pastoral, fisheries products and Food), reviewed the methodology of the EATM-SCORECARD from 19 to 22 February 2024 in Abuja/Nigeria, the data collection process, and the use of the handling and reporting platform. They in turn have the onerous task of training other actors in the field in their respective countries to facilitate data collection and handling.

With the active participation of members of the Regional Task Force from the ECOWAS Directorates of Trade, Agriculture, Customs, Industry and Free Movement, the workshop, which combined theory and practice, enabled the AKADEMIYA2063 trainers to gather additional needs from countries to finalize the platform and thus facilitate its use by stakeholders at all levels.

The results generated by the EATM-SCORECARD should be used by decision-makers to influence policy reforms for the promotion of intra-regional trade and strengthen policy implementation, as underlined by the Director of Trade of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Kolawole SOFOLA: “It is crucial that we recognise the importance of data in policy formulation and decision-making. Accurate and timely data can help governments design appropriate agricultural policies, anticipate food crises, support small-scale farmers, especially women and young people, and promote regional and international trade”.

As a reminder, this activity is part of the implementation of the West Africa Food System Resilience Program (FSRP), which considers “the integration of regional food markets and trade” as a major axis and aims to facilitate trade in agricultural goods and inputs within and across national borders in West Africa.

The training of trainers workshop in Abuja/Nigeria is an important phase in the process of deploying the EATM-SCORECARD in countries, with the knowledge acquired being put into practice. The national and regional stakeholders have agreed on a timetable to formalize the formation of teams in the countries to move on to data collection and handling, with the aim of having country scores before the start of the last quarter of 2024.