Stakeholders have adopted the establishment of a more efficient and inclusive monitoring and evaluation system that provides information on funding dedicated to agriculture, particularly agro-ecological and organic farming.
The stakeholders in a joint communique issued at the regional forum on agroecology, organic farming and climate-smart agriculture, held in Abuja, Nigeria from October 21st to 24th, 2024, stated that this system must be an accountability tool.
The forum was organized by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in collaboration with the Alliance for Agroecology in West Africa (3AO), the West Africa Organic Network (WAfrONet) and ActionAid International.
The Head of Rapporteur at the conference, Prof. Olatunji Makos, called on international and regional organizations to etablish policies and strategies for the protection and management of animal and plant biodiversity and Pasyan seeds
They said for the improvement of strategic orientations, measures and instruments of sectoral development policies for better consideration of Agro Ecology (AE) and others
They called on the need to restore the participatory and inclusion approach and the different consultation mechanisms with Organization Peasant (OP) and CSO networks, major policy actors, particularly in the context of the announced renewal of ECOWAP and PAU, to define more appropriate inclusive policies, taking into account women, young people and marginalized groups.
“We invite ECOWAS and UEMOA to integrate AE, AB and AIC into the KAMPALA process in accordance with the orientations of their strategies or instruments in progress or in preparation to support these practices.
“They propose to the two regional institutions to set up for this purpose an inclusive framework for consultation and orientation of Peasant Organization (PO) and CSO networks,” they said.
Also, the Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, in an interview said their collective commitment to this cause is a testament of their understanding of the critical challenge they face, climate change, food insecurity, and the pressing need for inclusive economic development.
“We would like to extend our profound gratitude to 3AO, WAPRONES, ARAM, ECOWAS in general, all the partners that have been involved in this.
“We want to say a very big thank you, especially to colleagues from Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and also the international from Nigeria. We say a very big thank you to every one of you
who have worked tirelessly alongside ECOWAS and other collaborators to make this summit a success.
” We are all on the same page on this. We must harness the momentum of this summit and translate our discussions into tangible actions within our communities, our states, our countries, and the region at large.
“Let us harness our collective strengths, ensure that the voices of the most marginalized farmers are heard and amplified in this critical dialogue, even as it continues.
“As we leave this summit, let us come into concrete actions, establish cross-border collaboration, implement pilot projects, and create a regional framework for sharing best practices, just like we have done,” he said.
