The Senior Staff Retreat of the Ecowas Department of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources was held this year from 20 to 21 January 2019 in Lomé, Togo in the premises of the Ecowas Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food.

The discussions enabled Commissioner Sékou Sangaré and his team to (i) discuss the implementation of the 2019 programs and activities of the various directorates and agencies of the Department on the basis of the lessons learned in 2018, (ii) validate the first quarterly workplan of the Department picking from that of the different directorates and agencies, to discuss the coherence of the plans with the existing sectoral regional policies, namely the regional agricultural policy (Ecowap), the regional environmental policy (Ecowep) and the regional water policy (Preao), and (iii) reflect on the establishment of a strategic framework for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of programs and activities on the one hand, and brainstorm on an integrated communication strategy for the Department on the other hand.

Meant to be institutionalized over time, this annual retreat is a tool for building better teamwork, better aligning the various activities with the three regional policies. It constitutes a mechanism for a better information flow within the Department. It is a result-based management approach that the department intends to promote internally.