Background of ECOAGRIS
Following the adoption of the ECOWAP/PDDAA in January 2005 and given the deficit in the existing information systems in countries, ECOWAS has decided, in collaboration with partner institutions, to put in place an integrated information system on the agricultural sector called “ECOAGRIS”. The goal of ECOAGRIS is to allow policy-makers to have and use reliable data, information and analyses for:The development and monitoring of agricultural development policies and strategies and (ii) better manage food security issues in West Africa and (iii) promote trade exchange of agro-food products
The pilot phase of ECOAGRIS (October 2010 to August 2013) has been implemented with the support of the food facility program EU-IFAD-ECOWAS. This program has benefited from a funding of the European Union in December 2008. That first phase has concerned seven (7) countries of West Africa. Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Senegal.
ECOAGRIS is in a regional integration process including namely i) the implementation of a common agricultural policy (ECOWAS) in the ECOWAS region and ii) the establishment of a regional food reserve
Extending the ECOAGRIS project to all the seventeen (17) countries of the Sahel and West Africa is part of the 10th EDF regional program “Regional Food Security Reserve” with the financial support of the European Union totaling fifty-six (56) million euros for a period of fifty-four (54) months (December 2014 to June 2019).
The main objective of this regional program is to contribute in addressing efficiently food crises and strengthening household resilience in a sustainable regional food sovereignty and security prospect, by the promotion of emergency food reserve systems at different geographical scales.
