This is one of the key goals of the virtual technical meeting on the review, which kicked off on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. The meeting will present participants with the progress made on essential review documents, primarily the stocktaking report and priorities for the next decade, following additional contributions received from various actors after the meeting held in Banjul, The Gambia, in June 2026.
While ECOWAP serves as the benchmark framework for agricultural development and food security in West Africa, its review must inject new momentum into it, according to Ousman Sylla, representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty, and Livestock of Senegal, the country currently holding the rotating chair of ECOWAS.
“Its review must provide tailored responses to the region’s persistent challenges: food insecurity, climate change, low regional trade, insufficient local processing, and financing constraints,” he declared.
For him, the future common agricultural policy must align with the ambitions of the Kampala Declaration, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) 2026–2035, and ECOWAS Vision 2050, while paying special attention to producers, women, and youth.
To achieve this, he expressed the hope that discussions among participants would lead to ambitious, realistic, and consensual guidelines to identify the necessary adjustments required to build more resilient, inclusive, and high-performing agrifood systems within the ECOWAS region.
“Special attention must be given to prioritizing key actions, governance, financing, coordination between national and regional levels, as well as monitoring, evaluation, and accountability,” indicated Ousman Sylla.
For her part, the Acting Director of Agriculture and Rural Development at the ECOWAS Commission, Ms. Fatmata Seiwoh, welcomed the participation of the representative of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Commission at the meeting. She promised to work
toward including representatives of the Entente Council and the Mano River Union in upcoming meetings on the topic.
“Involving these various institutions, which include several ECOWAS Member States, will ensure that the ECOWAP review process remains inclusive,” stated Ms. Fatmata Seiwoh.
She invited the more than eighty participants—including national focal points, technical experts, stakeholder representatives, ECOWAS Commission members, and regional consultants—to formulate relevant recommendations for the ECOWAP review.
These recommendations will be presented at the virtual ministerial meeting scheduled for August 27, 2026, during which regional Ministers of Agriculture will review the outcomes of the ECOWAP regional review process. This includes the draft stocktaking report, the draft outlook for the next ten (10) years, and the proposed strategic priorities for adopting the revised ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy.
The ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy, better known as ECOWAP, was adopted in January 2005 in Accra, Ghana, by West African leaders. It serves as the regional strategic framework for agricultural development, food and nutrition security, and the agricultural sector’s contribution to sustainable economic and social development in West Africa.
As the 2015–2025 implementation cycle comes to a close, ECOWAS has launched a new review process aimed at repositioning ECOWAP toward 2035, in line with the renewed ambitions of the Kampala Declaration, the upcoming CAADP cycle (2026–2035), and the strategic directions of ECOWAS Vision 2050.
The future ECOWAS Common Agricultural Policy will be producer-centric, placing increased emphasis on women and youth—two essential categories for the future of West African agriculture.
It will also place particular focus on the digitalization of agriculture and the marketing of agricultural products, two recognized levers for modernization and value creation.
It should be noted that during the meeting, participants attended a presentation delivered by Emmanuel Ahouansinkpo, consultant at the Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development of the ECOWAS Commission.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
