On 2 May 2025 the members of the Strategic Orientation Committee of the ECOWAS Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) meet in Lomé, Togo, to assess the 2024 activity report and financial execution for the 2024 financial year. The meeting of the Steering Committee is the twelfth of its kind since the launch of RAAF in 2013.
This governance body is a key forum for accountability, experience sharing and strategic orientation. It enables RAAF, as the Agency coordinating the implementation of projects and programs under the Regional Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), to submit two reports to the members of the Committee for their appraisal, namely the 2024 activity report and the 2025 budget on the one hand, and the financial report for the 2024 financial year on the other hand.
“For the 2024 financial year, the main challenges affecting the implementation of projects and programs are the security crisis in the Sahel countries, which affects access to project areas, and the withdrawal of the three Sahelian countries (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) from ECOWAS. While alternatives often involve their participation in the implementation of projects, more adequate solutions must be found. I can assure you that the authorities of our regional Community are resolutely working on”, Mrs Massandjé Touré-Litsé, ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, says.
Despite the challenging context, RAAF was able to achieve a physical implementation rate of 72% and a financial implementation rate of 75%, giving an overall implementation rate of about 74%.
RAAF works every day to improve the coordination and facilitation of the implementation of projects and programs on the one hand, and the networking of all stakeholders in the development of the agricultural sector in West Africa on the other hand. The advice and guidance from the Steering Committee will reinforce this dynamic.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).