Regional Capitalization Workshop On Local Stock Management Training Curriculum In West Africa, Sahel Opens In Cotonou
ECOWAS Learns from the Experience of setting up sustainable training capacity in local stock management in West Africa and the Sahel.
The regional capitalization workshop on the training curriculum for local stock management in West Africa and the Sahel opened in Cotonou, Benin this Tuesday, February 25, 2025.
The three-day workshop, which will end on February 27,2025, is being organized by the ECOWAS Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food in collaboration with INADES-Formation.
Since 2015, ECOWAS has been implementing its regional food security storage strategy based on three complementary lines of defence: local stocks set up and managed by local organizations or decentralized authorities, national security stocks administered by States, and the Regional Food Security Reserve (RFSR) managed by ECOWAS through the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food.
Local stocks are of paramount importance, as they represent the first line of defence against food and nutrition crises in the region.
To enhance their effectiveness, ECOWAS is giving priority to developing the skills and professionalization of those involved in their management.
With the support of the European Union, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the World Bank, a training program has been developed to build the capacity of local players in the management of local stocks in the region.
According to Mr. Dossouhoui Gaston, Benin’s Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, who opened the workshop, “the storage of food products or livestock feed requires a great deal of care and skill.
Setting up a regional training scheme for managers and technicians of local storage organizations is a highly relevant investment for the entire ECOWAS-UEMOA-CILSS region”.
Minister Dossouhoui also stressed the need for the region to grow, store and sell livestock feed to producers.
The initiative aims to structure a continuous training offer to reinforce the capacities of local storage organizations.
It has resulted in the development of training modules based on the capitalization of best practices, the setting up of an e-learning platform and the identification of trainers and step-down institutions throughout the region.
Based on this approach, regional and national training sessions have been rolled out, reaching a wide network of actors involved in food security, including members of farmers’ and producers’ organizations, as well as grassroots stakeholders.
The region now has a pool of 86 specialized regional trainers, and the scheme has already trained over 160 producer organizations.
As RAAF Executive Director, Mr. Mohamed Zongo, rightly reminded, ECOWAS has made support for local storage one of its priorities in the deployment of the regional storage strategy.
To achieve this, it has relied on regional networks of farmers’ organizations, as well as on grassroots organizations which, over the years, have acquired unique knowledge and skills in stock management.
The aim of the regional capitalization workshop is to take stock of the training program, share experiences and lessons learned from the deployment of training courses in ECOWAS-UEMOA-CILSS countries, and identify strategies to ensure sustainability of the system.
About 70 participants are in attendance, including representatives of producer organizations, step-down institutions and trained facilitators, as well as experts from ECOWAS, RAAF, INADES-Formation, UEMOA and CILSS, alongside technical and financial partners.
Through this initiative, ECOWAS and its partners reaffirm their commitment to a resilient and inclusive storage system, guaranteeing food and nutrition security for the people of West Africa and the Sahel.
