The Ecowas Commission, through the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (ARAA, in French) ) is organising a 2021 review and 2022 programming workshop from 2 to 5 November 2021 in Saly, Senegal as part of the ‘’Regional Innovative Fruit Fly Control System in West Africa’’ (SyRIMAO) Project which is being implemented by the ECOWAS Commission with the financial support of the European Union (EU) and the French Development Agency (AFD).

This workshop aims to i) provide an assessment of the 2021 mango campaign and the implementation of the 2021 AWPB by each national committee and by the Project Coordination Unit ; ii) share and discuss the intervention strategy of the project components and iii) develop and validate the 2022 AWPB of the national committees.

Faced with the fruit flies’ pressure on horticultural productions that adversely impacts food, sanitary, social security of populations and on the environment, ECOWAS and the UEMOA in 2014 set up a project to support the Regional Fruit Fly Control Plan in West Africa (PLMF) that helped achieve significant results, including, the setting up of a surveillance, monitoring and alert system plan for effective and targeted control of fruit flies in 11 of the 15 ECOWAS member States, the development of promising technologies for fruit fly control and capacity strengthening of the National Fruits and Vegetables Specialisation Centre (CNS-FL) of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso).

Faced with the fruit flies’ pressure on horticultural productions that adversely impacts food, sanitary, social security of populations and on the environment, ECOWAS and the UEMOA in 2014 set up a project to support the Regional Fruit Fly Control Plan in West Africa (PLMF) that helped achieve significant results, including, the setting up of a surveillance, monitoring and alert system plan for effective and targeted control of fruit flies in 11 of the 15 ECOWAS member States, the development of promising technologies for fruit fly control and capacity strengthening of the National Fruits and Vegetables Specialisation Centre (CNS-FL) of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso).

With a 13.9 million euros funding from the EU for a 4-year period, this second phase of the projet focuses on: (i) consolidation, large scale dissemination of efficient and low environmental impact control techniques to producers, (ii) extension of surveillance, warning and alert activities to all 15 ECOWAS member States, and (iii) the establishment of mechanisms for sustaining the surveillance and control system at the regional and national levels, namely through the mango sector structuring.

In attendance are ECOWAS representatives, project managers and accountants from the National Committees of the 15 ECOWAS member States, representatives of the AFD and the EU Delegation in Abuja.