The ECOWAS Regional Food Security Reserve (RFSR) Management Committee held its first meeting in Conakry (Guinea) on 9 December 2019 in a very challenging regional context.

Nearly 9.4 million (of which 8.5 million for the ECOWAS region) of vulnerable people are already in need of food assistance. Without effective management of the current situation, this figure could reach 14 million (of which 12.4 million for the ECOWAS region) of people who will be hit by hunger and malnutrition during the next starvation season. This situation is mainly due to insecurity related to conflicts that generate massive displacements of populations and to the difficult pastoral situation.

Given the severity of the food and nutrition situation, the Management Committee decided to launch an emergency Appeal to the Regional and International Community. Avoiding the suffering of the populations requires that actors of the Humanitarian Aid strongly coordinate themselves under the leadership of the States and the ECOWAS. With this in view, ECOWAS will take the initiative to bring the Humanitarian Community together by January 2020.

The Management Committee calls upon the States to quickly prepare national response plans with all stakeholders concerned. It calls upon regional and international organizations as well as international financial partners to make a strong contribution to strengthen stock levels in countries and at the level of the Regional Food Security Reserve. Considering current shocks and future risks, the physical stock of this Reserve should therefore be increased to 60 000 tons, in the short term, and to 100 000 tons by 2021. The endowment of the financial Reserve with the support of the International Community should enable the deployment of diversified transfer programs and social safety nets that meet the various needs and contexts of the suffering populations.

Considering the current situation, the Management Committee encourages international organizations to give priority to the channel of national and regional institutions to implement their support, which is the only way forward. When purchasing food products, these organizations are strongly encouraged to source from producers’ organizations in the region to support agricultural prices and incomes, which are the key factors of food security.

Lastly, the Management Committee called upon the States that have benefited from the support of the RFSR to accelerate the replenishment of the stocks availed to them in 2018 and 2019. It calls upon all the countries of the region to implement the pooling of 5 % of their national stocks and financial reserves for regional solidarity mechanisms in accordance with the commitment of the RESOGEST Cooperation Framework.