As part of the implementation of the ECOWAP 2025 projects and programs and in order to ensure better coordination, convergence and institutional synergies recommended by the 2019 steering committee meetings, the ECOWAS Department of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources, in collaboration with UEMOA, CILSS, FAO and CORAF, opened this morning the meetings of the regional steering committees of ECOWAP 2025 projects. Scheduled to end on 10 February, these committees, being held in an hybrid online and face-to-face format, cover eight (08) thematic areas, namely (i) Livestock & Pastoralism, (ii) Fisheries and Aquaculture, (iii) Agricultural Productivity and Competitiveness, (iv) Adaptation to Climate Change, (v) Environment, Forestry and Biodiversity Conservation, (vi) Pesticide Management, Plant Pest Management and SPS, (vii) Resilience, Food and Nutritional Security and (viii) Institutional and Organizational Capacity Building. The objective is to:

• Validate the 2021 activity reports of each project or program,
• Validate the 2022 annual work plan and budget proposals of each project,
• Analyze the state of implementation of the recommendations of the 2021 steering committee and make new recommendations for each project and program,
• Discuss synergies, convergences and complementarities between projects working on the same thematic area.