The Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), along with national and regional stakeholders in the agriculture sector, the African Union, and representatives from the sector’s six stakeholder groups, came together to officially launch the fourth Biennial Review on agricultural growth and transformation. The focus was also on initiating discussions on the next decade for the ECOWAS Agriculture Policy (ECOWAP) and Post Malabo Agenda. The event, which saw a total of 98 participants both online and offline, took place on May 16th and 17th, 2024. It featured distinguished facilitators, experts, and ECOWAS officials with a detailed agenda aimed at promoting thorough analysis, discussion, and planning for action.
In his opening remarks, the Director of Agriculture and Rural Development of ECOWAS, Alain SY TRAORE, emphasized the significance of the Biennial Review process. This set the stage for discussions, followed by a presentation by Mrs. Fatmata Lucia SEIWOH, the ECOWAP/CAADP Monitoring & Evaluation Programme Officer, Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development, on the Fourth Biennial Review Report. It was highlighted that ECOWAS was recognized for the second time as the best-performing region, with five countries showing excellent progress.
Regional BR Expert Professor Raphael BABATUNDE provided a thorough analysis of the Biennial Review Report across the first to the fourth editions, the performance of ECOWAS countries in the four BR rounds, and the assessment of the BR Process. Dr. Mbaye YADE from AKADEMIYA2063 discussed potential post-BR activities, offering insights to guide future strategies. Prof. Aminou Arouna moderated an open discussion, allowing participants to share their perspectives and feedback on the reports. The event concluded with the recognition of countries making progress and the presentation of two awards won by ECOWAS for BR 3 (2021) and BR 4 (2023).
AU representative Mme. Panduleni ELAGO provided an overview of the Post Malabo consultations, the conveners and co-conveners of the technical working groups, upcoming RECs-led regional consultations, and the support needed for the Post Malabo CAADP process. Mrs. SEIWOH also highlighted perspectives for ECOWAP beyond 2025.
Dr. Olawale OLAYIDE, a representative of the Post Malabo coordinating team, presented the objectives, agenda, and structure for the physical meeting scheduled for June 12-14, 2024, in Abuja, Nigeria.
Discussions were held on how to enhance the performance of ECOWAS and Member States in the fifth BR process in 2025. The team emphasized the importance of policy dialogue, addressing data challenges, and strengthening the capacity of country agricultural data management committees. The Director acknowledged the contributions of technical and financial partners, particularly USAID, the European Union, FAO, and AGRA, for their support and confidence in the Directorate’s M&E team from 2015 until now.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).