ECOWAS Calls For Strengthened Mechanisms To Enhance Food Production
By: Mnena Iyorkegh, Abuja
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Stakeholders on Food Security, have converged on Abuja, Nigeria for the Third Meeting of the Management Committee of the Regional Food Security Reserve for West Africa, with a view to strengthen immediate response mechanisms while consolidating on the foundations of sustainable resilience to enhance food production.
The Regional Food Security Reserve, created in 2013 by the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, supports the region’s Member States, Chad and Mauritania in managing food crises.
Welcoming Participants, on behalf, the ECOWAS Commissioner, for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Mrs. Massandje Tourey- Litse, the Acting Director for ECOWAS Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food, Mr. Mohammed Zongo, underscore the meeting as an avenue to re-strategise the operating rules of the Regional Reserve in order to reinforce the coordination and effectiveness of collective action.
“This meeting (the third of its kind) is of particular importance, as it will enable us to take stock of the operations carried out by the Regional Reserve since March 2023 on the basis of the Executive Board’s guidelines, particularly with regard to purchases, interventions, stock replenishment, technical rotations and the identification of new storage areas. It will also enable us to plan the operations planned for 2025, while ensuring that we support the Member States in caring for the populations most affected by the food, nutrition and pastoral crises. Our discussions and decisions will ensure that the Reserve is managed transparently, efficiently and equitably, while adapting to present and future challenges”, he said.
Speaking on the objectives of the Regional Food Security Reserve, the ECOWAS Commissioner, for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, noted that Food security stocks are emerging as key social protection tools, used at different levels – local, national, regional – to respond effectively to food crises.
“Since 2012, ECOWAS has been implementing a regional storage strategy based on three complementary levels of storage: local stocks, national security stocks and the Regional Food Security Reserve (RRSA). Its objectives are to complement the efforts of Member States by providing rapid, diversified and appropriate food assistance to populations in crisis situations; express regional solidarity towards Member States and populations, through transparent mechanisms; strengthen food sovereignty and regional integration. Since its creation, the Reserve has made significant progress. It currently has a projected capital of more than 74,000 tonnes of food, stored in several areas of our region, which can be deployed rapidly in case of need”, he noted.
Mrs. Tourey- Litse, commended all stakeholders for the effort been made to ensure the committee succeeds.
“I cannot conclude without paying due tribute to the ongoing cooperation of the national and regional institutions you represent. Your commitment has been decisive in both the design and implementation of the Regional Food Security Reserve.I would also like to express my deep gratitude to all the technical and financial partners who are actively contributing to the operationalisation of this regional instrument. In particular, I would like to thank the French Development Agency, the World Bank, the European Union and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, which are supporting the continued implementation of the ECOWAS Regional Storage Strategy”.
Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, lamented that food security situation in West Africa and Sahel, has worsened in the recent years due to conflicts, economic instability and devastating impacts of climate change,which in turn has made nearly 34.7million people in dire need of immediate food and nutritional assistance.
“These major challenges remind us of the urgent need to strengthen our strategies and response instruments to effectively deal with the food and nutrition crisis affecting our region. They also alert us on the growing need for sovereign financing of our agriculture in general and our response mechanisms to the food crisis in particular. It calls for a deliberate concerted effort to address food production, strategic food storage, market and price volatility, as well as re-strategizing of the regional body, especially in the administration and management of the regional food security reserve”.
Mr. Kyari, further stressed that the regional food security reserve, since its inception in 2013, has become an essential pillar of collective strategy for responding to the food and nutrition crisis.
“As a regional instrument, it complements the efforts of member states and grassroots communities to provide rapid and appropriate responses to the needs of vulnerable populations. However, to increase its effectiveness, it is important to ensure that the instrument at its disposal and its governance bodies meet the challenges we face and the ambitions we have for this region. This requires rigorous operation of the decision-making bodies of the regional food security, as well as proper monitoring of the reserve’s operations and interventions.
The management committee members and other stakeholders at this meeting were urged to be steadfast, committed and focused as they evaluate the planning, the mode of operations and the alternative storage options for the regional food reserve and its emergency response plan.
The Regional Reserve is managed by a Management Committee comprising the Member States, regional institutions, producer organisations, civil society, the private sector and technical and financial partners.
Oyenike Oyeniyi
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