Food Security: the Members of the Management Committee of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Food Security Reserve Hold their Annual Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria

The third meeting of the Management Committee of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Food Security Reserve opens this Tuesday 18 March 2025 in Abuja, Nigeria. The two-day meeting, which will end on Wednesday 19 March 2025, will take stock of the activities carried out by the Food Reserve since the last meeting in 2023 and plan interventions for 2025, in a context marked by a growing food crisis in West Africa and regional and global geopolitical upheaval.

Food security in West Africa and the Sahel continues to deteriorate due to persistent conflict, economic instability and the effects of climate change. In December 2024, almost 34.7 million people needed immediate food and nutrition assistance, a figure that could rise to 47 million by the June-August 2025 lean season if urgent affirmative measures are not taken. Malnutrition also remains a major concern in several countries in the region.

Faced with this situation, ECOWAS, in collaboration with Member States, Chad and Mauritania, is working to strengthen rapid and sustainable response mechanisms through the Regional Food Security Reserve. The aim of the Reserve is to complement the efforts of Member States to provide rapid and sustainable food assistance to affected countries, promote regional solidarity and contribute to food sovereignty and economic integration in West Africa.

The Management Committee, with its Executive Board, is the centrepiece of the Reserve’s governance. It decides on all the operations relating to its functioning: purchases, storage, technical rotations and interventions in response to a crisis.

The main purpose of the 3rd meeting of the Management Committee is to present to the Committee members a detailed report on the operations carried out since the last meeting in March 2023 and to submit for their approval the operations planned for 2025 (purchases, interventions, technical rotations, replenishment, etc.). During the meeting, members will also discuss and validate the resource mobilisation plan to support Member States in their responses to food, nutrition and pastoral crises.

Furthermore, drawing lessons from the ten years of implementation of the regional food storage strategy through comparing the theory with the practice of its implementation on the ground, the Management Committee’s discussions will launch the process of revising the said strategy and the operating rules of the Regional Reserve with the aim of strengthening the coordination and effectiveness of collective action to better meet the new challenges linked to the changing socio-political context at both regional and international level.

Speaking of the challenges facing the region, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi who opened the meeting on behalf of the Federal Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari CON., drew participants’ attention on the growing need for sovereign financing of West African agriculture in general, and of food crisis response mechanisms in particular. Such instruments need to be adapted to the realities of Member States.

Following Dr Ogunbiyi, the Executive Director of the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF), Mr Mohamed Zongo, speaking on behalf of Mrs Massandjé TOURE-LITSE, ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, recalled that since its creation, the Food Reserve has made significant progress. It currently has a projected capital of more than 74,000 tonnes of food, stored in several areas of the region, which can be deployed rapidly in case of need. Food security stocks are emerging as key social protection tools, used at different levels – local, national, regional – to respond effectively to food crises.

The Management Committee meeting brings together representatives from ECOWAS Member States, Chad, Mauritania, regional institutions (ECOWAS, UEMOA, CILSS), producer organisations, civil society, the private sector and technical and financial partners. It falls within ECOWAS’s ongoing efforts to build a more resilient regional food system, capable of responding effectively to current and future shocks. The expected results will be used to guide priority actions for 2025, in a spirit of solidarity and regional integration.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).