On 17 and 18 December 2025 in Lomé, ECOWAS, UEMOA and CILSS co-chaired a series of strategic meetings aimed at reviewing the Regional Food Security Storage Strategy in West Africa. Discussions began with high-level consultations between the three intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) and followed with the second meeting of the Steering Committee of the review process.

Opening the consultation on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Dr Kalilou Sylla, welcomed the delegations from UEMOA and CILSS and expressed his gratitude for their sustained engagement alongside ECOWAS. He emphasised the need for the three IGOs to strengthen their collaboration and convergence of views in coordinating responses to food security challenges.

This high-level consultation enabled ECOWAS, UEMOA and CILSS to harmonise their views on joint management of the review process. It was agreed that meaningful reform of the regional storage system could not be achieved without a coherent policy framework and effective involvement of Member States and all stakeholders. Furthermore, they reaffirmed their commitment to aligning agricultural and food security policies towards common objectives, while clearly defining the scope of risks to be covered, whether food crises, conflicts, humanitarian responses, market functioning or buying power of populations. Policy support considers the challenges of governance and sustainability of crisis prevention and management mechanisms in a region under reconfiguration, as well as the need for greater political mobilisation of the 17 Member States of the shared area.

The IGOs highlighted the advantages of building a robust economic model based primarily on regional resources and mechanisms, and those linked to the operationalisation of the financial reserve through dedicated windows for different types of risks. Strengthening monitoring, evaluation, communication and visibility using indicators to measure effects and impacts should also be considered in the new strategy.
Building on this consultation, the second meeting of the Steering Committee for the strategy review process made it possible to take stock of the progress of the review and gather necessary guidance for continuing the activities.

Following the presentation of initial thoughts on the outline of the strategy document, the Members of the Committee emphasised the need to consider key concerns, including knowledge management, specific areas of focus on actors and stakeholders, including the private sector, implementation instruments and measures, and political and regulatory environment. They also stressed the need to establish close links with the Regional Fund for Agriculture and Food (FRAA) and investment banks such as EBID and BOAD.
Editorial Committee should therefore ensure that the process is inclusive, with a good balance between the needs of individual Member States and those of the regional level. Finally, the Steering Committee adopted a roadmap extending to mid-2026 to complete the review process.
To recall, the strategy review shall contribute to strengthening regional capacity to prevent and manage food, nutrition and pastoral crises. It shall also fuel the ongoing process of updating the Regional Agricultural Policy for the next ten years (ECOWAP 2035).