Lome - Togo — The Ministers of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Trade and Humanitarian Affairs of ECOWAS Member States on Wednesday, 18th May 2010 agreed on measures to mitigate the current food and nutrition crisis in the region, particularly on community citizens.
Their recommendations relate to measures to ensure the effective management of the regional dimension to the pastoral crisis, guaranteeing the free flow of cereals and all food stuffs and coordinating strategies on food security stocks and supply strategies for food relief programmes. Other dimensions concern strengthening of the capacity of mechanisms for monitoring and supervision of the pastoral, food and nutritional evolutionary trends in West Africa.
Other measures agreed at the end of the extraordinary meeting, which was dominated by the crisis, include strengthening the region's advocacy for better mobilization of financial resources to cope with the crisis in the Sahelian region, notably in Niger; promoting cash transfer operations in view of availability of food in the market and ensuring greater mobilization of the international community to support the management of the national and regional dimensions of the crisis.
The ministers, who said their recommendations were informed by stakeholder consultations, expressed satisfaction with the cooperation between ECOWAS, regional institutions, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, Member States and technical and financial partners, among others. They commended the efforts deployed by cooperation agencies and regional integration organizations as well as the spirit of solidarity displayed by some Member States towards Niger, the country most hit by the crisis.
According to a report adopted by the ministers , low-income households had little access to food due to soaring prices in 2007-2008, particularly staples such as corn, millet and sorghum whose prices remained relatively high even after normalcy had returned to the prices of major cereal products in the international market.
According to the report, nothing illustrates this surge better than the prices for various grains in Niger where millet rose above 18 per cent in February 2010 while sorghum and corn and rose by 20 percent and 14 percent respectively, the highest average such increases in five years. The ministers therefore commended the steps taken to support Niger, notably the 200 million F.CFA assistance from the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA), the donation of 550,000 US dollars by ECOWAS and the ECOWAS' initiative to mobilize international support for the country. They also expressed satisfaction with the support from the UN specialized agencies which conducted an emergency needs assessment for Niger which concluded that the country needs an estimated $190 million to cope with the crisis. They also praised the French government for the grant of six million Euros as food aid, three million of which was earmarked for Niger.
The ministers also praised the sense of solidarity displayed by countries with foods surplus in the region and which have indicated their preparedness to provide Niger with cereals at concessionary prices. They expressed satisfaction with Burkina Faso's donation of 5,000 metric tons of cereals and the willingness of Senegal and Benin to provide 10,000 metric tons each, noting that Togo has also pledged to provide between 5000 and 20,000 tons of cereals. Moreover, they hailed the initiatives by Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali to distribute foodstuffs to the most vulnerable populations in their domain.
They further commended the emergency relief measures put in place by affected Member States to curtail the food and nutritional crisis, especially the national relief plan developed by Niger. The 104 billion CFA plan, which seeks to provide a safety net for the vulnerable populations, aims at providing incentives for agricultural productions and addressing malnutrition basically among pregnant women and infants. Some 28.3 billion F.CFA of the amount has been mobilised. While applauding efforts by technical and financial partners to provide relief to the people of the affected countries, the ministers urged the partners to support the prompt implementation of the emergency relief plans adopted by the affected countries, especially at this stage of the impending food shortage.
They also noted with satisfaction the increased involvement of technical and financial partners in the ECOWAS/CAADP (Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme) process, which would enhance the effectiveness of their support as well as their preparedness to provide additional support within the framework defined by ECOWAS. The ministers strongly advised that special practical measures be taken to facilitate the actual transfer of food items from countries with surpluses to Niger, stressing the stressed the need for a regional trade facilitation and commodity exchange market mechanisms.
