The seventh and final meeting of the project's Steering Committee was held in Rome, Italy, from 29 to 31 October 2025. Chaired by Dr Sylla Kalilou, ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, the Steering Committee brought together the main stakeholders of the project, namely ECOWAS and its Member States, FAO and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the project's financial partner.

The purpose of this final meeting was to assess the achievements, discuss the conclusions and recommendations of the final evaluation and explore the next steps of the project. To recall, the ‘Global Forest Transformation for People and Climate: Focus on West Africa’ project was implemented from 2019 to 2025 by FAO and supported the implementation of the ECOWAS Convergence Plan for Sustainable Management and Use of Forest Ecosystems in West Africa, adopted in 2013. The Convergence Plan aims to mobilise political, institutional, financial and technical support to address cross-border forest-related issues. The overall objective of the project is to strengthen decision-making in forest and land management and to consolidate regional capacities for the implementation of elements of the Convergence Plan.

Indeed, climate change poses a significant threat to food systems and ecosystems in West Africa. The threat is exacerbated by deforestation. According to the latest global forest resources assessment, published on 21 October 2025, approximately 1.4 million hectares were deforested each year in West and Central Africa between 2015 and 2025. However, efforts to reduce deforestation and associated greenhouse gas emissions are beginning to bear fruit.

Opening the meeting the Committee, Commissioner Kalilou and FAO Deputy Director-General Godfrey Magwenzi welcomed the excellent collaboration between their respective institutions, while calling for more results and greater impact of projects in the field. The two leaders renewed their commitment to strengthening collaborative work with Swedish cooperation and other partners on restoring and safeguarding forest ecosystems.

The committee's discussions highlighted that the project has, among other things, generated new data on West African forests using an innovative method that combines field, drone and satellite data. The project has trained 1,800 technicians in 15 countries and mobilised more than 500 technicians to improve forestry laws and community forestry. It also analysed forestry legal frameworks in seven countries, which serves as a basis for national revisions. Fifteen community forestry initiatives were supported, reaching more than 6,000 beneficiaries. Technical exchanges between the 15 West African countries have fostered collaboration and knowledge sharing. The project also promoted the role of women in forestry. Funding from Swedish Cooperation has thus made it possible, among other things, to develop tools for governance, collection of up-to-date data and monitoring of forest ecosystems, as well as tools for implementing innovative community practices for the restoration of degraded areas and the preservation of forests.

Participants also highlighted the challenges that remain to be addressed to sustain the project's major results and achievements. This mainly includes better aligning national regulatory and legal texts in the sector, strengthening technical capacities for the implementation of the Convergence Plan, improving gender inclusion, and putting in place a communication and dissemination plan for results with greater advocacy among policymakers at both national and regional levels. The achievements and lessons learned from the project should also be used to inform the current revision of the ECOWAS Convergence Plan. A follow-up project will also help consolidate, amplify and sustain the achievements of the first phase.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Commissioner Kalilou, in charge of Economic Affairs and Agriculture, held discussions with several key ECOWAS partners on topics of mutual interest. In particular, he met with Ms. Ulrika Hessling Sjöström, representative of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), to discuss the possibility of developing other projects on climate change and the continuation of capacity building in forestry expertise in West Africa. He also sat with FAO Deputy Director-General Mr Godfrey Magwenzi to discuss strengthening collaboration between ECOWAS and FAO, as well as mobilizing additional resources to better support sectors related to agriculture and climate change. Discussions focused, among other things, on pastoralism and climate change, school feeding, local food security storage, the preservation of natural resources and ecosystems in the Fouta Djallon Massif, and member states' access to the Green Climate Fund. Both partners, Sida and FAO, reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their collaboration with ECOWAS, as West Africa remains a region of major interest to all development partners.