From 24 to 26 April 2025, Niamey hosted the annual regional planning meeting for the research activities and projects of the Regional Centre for Livestock Specialisation (CRS-EL). This strategic meeting was part of efforts to strengthen the centres of excellence and specialisation of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), with the support of the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (PRSA/FSRP), funded by the World Bank.
CORAF, as the regional scientific coordination body, plays a central role in the operationalisation of the CRS-EL. Since the Center was set up in 2018, CORAF has provided ongoing technical and institutional support, fostering the emergence of a research network made up of eleven national centres in ten countries. Today, this regional structure enables expertise to be pooled and innovative solutions to be co-constructed to meet the many challenges facing the livestock sector in West Africa.
The meeting in Niamey enabled participants - government representatives, researchers, teacher-researchers, producer organisations and technical partners - to define the research priorities for the period 2025-2026. The aim was to design scientific interventions adapted to local realities, while meeting the expectations of producers and stakeholders in the livestock-meat-dairy value chain.
With livestock farming occupying a strategic position in the West African economy, the debates focused on the major research themes to be prioritised: genetic improvement, animal health, livestock feed, product processing, adding value to hides and skins, among others.
Professor Yayé Aissatou, Chair of CORAF's Scientific Committee, welcomed the progress made in structuring the CRS-EL. She emphasised the importance of strengthening the alignment between research activities and the needs of the field, stressing the need to involve end-users in the innovation process. In her view, CORAF's support through the PRSA/FSRP is crucial to ensuring regional coherence and the sustainability of interventions.
This meeting is part of a series of regional planning workshops organised under the FSRP, following those held in Mali and Chad in 2024. It will be followed by another session in Senegal in September 2025, demonstrating the regional momentum in research and development for resilient food systems.
All in all, this CRS-EL annual meeting is a major step towards consolidating the programme's achievements and promoting resilient, productive and sustainable livestock farming, in the interests of food security, job creation and economic development in West Africa.
