As part of their new prerogatives to have a special interest in the actions of the ECOWAS Commission and its specialized Agencies and Institutions, MPs from ECOWAS have divided themselves into groups to visit some of the Member States to learn more about these Agencies/Institutions and their activities.

In this context, the ECOWAS Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) based in Lomé, Togo received a courtesy call, on Friday, 5 October 2018, of a group of these Parliamentarians headed by Honorable MP of Togo, Mr. Christophe Tchao.

For their information, a PowerPoint presentation on RAAF in its mandate, mission, objectives, activities and main achievements since its launch in September 2013 was made by the Executive Director of the Agency, Mr. Ousseini Salifou and his team. The exchanges that followed this presentation were very rich and instructive. Parliamentarians were impressed by the portfolio of projects that the Agency coordinates. The main sticking point is the fact that so far, most of the projects that RAAF coordinates are funded by development partners, which does not allow the region to adequately take care of the development of its agricultural sector on the basis of its priorities and agenda.

The MPs pledged to make the necessary advocacy for a quick contribution to the regional fund for agriculture and food created at the same time as RAAF but which, unfortunately, is not yet operational.