The Agricultural Policy of the Economic Community of West African States, called ECOWAP, was adopted on 19 January 2005 in Accra.

By adopting this policy, the Heads of State and Government committed:
a. The ECOWAS Commission to take all necessary measures to promote the effective implementation of this decision, and in particular, to define more precisely the action plan, the institutional structure, the financing system and lastly the monitoring and evaluation mechanism; and

b. The member states to harmonise their national agricultural policies with the regional policy and to place emphasis on those aspects that depend mainly on interventions at the national level.

They also invited:
a. The other integration or cooperation organisations within the region to align their strategies, policies and programmes relating to the agricultural, food and natural re source management sectors with the guiding principles and priorities of the West African Agricultural policy and

b. All private sector stakeholders and socio-professional organisations in the sector to actively participate in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of this policy.

The Vision
The agricultural policy is part of efforts to guarantee modern and sustainable agriculture, founded on effective and efficient family farms and the promotion of agricultural enterprises through private sector involvement. It aims at ensuring that agricultural enterprises through private sector involvement. It aims at ensuring that agriculture is not only productive and competitive within markets in the community and internationally but also guarantees food security and serves as a source of decent income for its operators.

Challenges to the Agricultural Policy
ECOWAP seeks to meet three main challenges:
* Conveniently feed an ever growing and highly urbanized West African population. The policy therefore emphasises increased agricultural productivity in order to satisfy the food needs of this population;

* Promote sustainable social and environmental development; and
* Build an efficient regional market and integrate an increasingly competitive West African agriculture into the global market.

Scope of ECOWAP
In conformity with the revised Treaty of ECOWAS, the agricultural policy covers all the products in the agricultural, livestock and fisheries sectors, as well as the management of natural resources.

Objectives
The overall objective of the Agricultural Policy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAP), is to contribute, on a sustainable basis, to meeting the food needs of the population, ensuring economic and social development and the eradication of poverty in the Member States. It also aims at the reduction of inequalities between the territories, Zones and countries.

This overall objective is broken down into seven specific objectives:
a. Ensure food security for the rural and urban population of West Africa;
b. Reduce food security for the rural and urban population of West Africa;
c. Support the equitable economic and commercial integration of agricultural enterprises into national regional and international markets;
d. Develop human capacities, create employment and incomes within the upstream and downstream areas of production;
e. Ensure the intensification of production systems;
f. Contribute to the reduction of the vulnerability of West African economies to the volatility in the international market for agricultural produce and reduce the factors of instability and regional insecurity and
g. Provide West African agriculture with appropriate funding mechanisms.

Guiding principles
Regional integration is a long and complex process that rest on a few guiding principles, namely the principles of subsidiarity, proportionality, complementarity, regionality, solidarity, partnership consultation and progress.

Axes of intervention
The attainment of the objectives of ECOWAP rests on three major axes:
* Increasing the productivity and competitiveness of West African agriculture,
* Implementing an intra-community trade regime in agricultural products; and
* Adopting a trade regime vis-à-vis countries outside the region.

Action plan
ECOWAP is the instrument for implementing the NEPAD detailed Programme for Agricultural Development in Africa (PDDAA/NEPAD) in the West African region.
Its five-year action plan (2006-2010) focuses on:
. Improving the productivity and competitiveness of agriculture, mainly family farms;
. Promoting the regional market improving access to international markets; and
. Implementing a governance, coordination and monitoring/ evaluation mechanism for ECOWAP.

Status of implementation of ECOWAP
Ongoing activities relate mainly to the first stages of operationalising the ECOWAP/PDDAA action plan and sectoral policies in the areas of fishing and forestry.

1. Formulation and launching of investment programmes at the regional and national levels.
Six (6) sub-programmes were defined under the Regional Agriculture Investment Programme (RAIP), which is woven around these thematic areas:
* Improvement of water resource management
* Sustainable development of agricultural enterprises
* Improved management of shared resources
* Development of agricultural value chains and market promotion
* Prevention and management of food crises and
* Institutional capacity building for the implementation of the RAIP.
The different stakeholders of the Thematic Groups are represented on the Regional Consultative Committee, a structure of ECOWAP.

2. Inclusion of the ECOWAP orientations in the CET.EPA/WTO process.
The following materials have been prepared and validates:
* AN appropriate tariff policy for the products of the agricultural sector;
* Proposals on the expectations of the agricultural sector in the definition of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union and West Africa.

3. Executive of other ECOWAP and PDDAA/NEPAD activities;
* Development of onchocerciasis free zones;
* Development of bio-technology and bio-security within the ECOWAS region;
* Pre vent ion and fight against avian influenza in West Africa;
* Promotion of the use of fertilizers;
* Identification of sensitive products within the framework of the CET/EPA/WTO process;
* Cooperation with partners for the implementation of ECOWAP and PDDAA/NEPAD;
* Establishment of regular working relations with integration and technical IGOs (UEMOA, CILSS, CORAF) and with international organisations (FAO, FARA, IITA, IFPRI, etc);
* Initiation of working relations with many technical and financial partners: FAO, ADB, EU, FIDA, DFID, French Cooperation, Belgian Cooperation; and
 development of close collaboration with agricultural professional organisations and civil society (ROPPA, network of chambers of agriculture, as well as agro-food and consumer organisations).
Courtesy of Ernest Aubee, Principal programme officer, Ecowas Commission, Abuja, Nigeria