ECOWAS, USAID to host conference on regional trade and food security

The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), with technical and financial support from the U.S. Government through its USAID Agribusiness and Trade Promotion project, will host a conference on regional trade in locally-produced food commodities in Accra, Ghana, January 29-31, 2013.

 â€œFood Across Borders: Improving Regional Trade for Food Security in West Africa” will bring together stakeholders -- ministers, government officials, regional organisations, business associations, regional trade companies, farmer associations, financial institutions, and development partners -- to analyse the importance of regional trade to food security in West Africa as well as current obstacles to trade.

The conference will then help spur consensus between the public and private sectors on the way forward, and will produce an agenda for increasing regional trade and food security to benefit millions of West Africans.  

Food security continues to elude West Africa, particularly in its Sahelian countries. The region’s trade in staple commodities, while significant, is an underestimated, underappreciated contributor to food security, meriting reflection by national and regional stakeholders.

To set the stage for discussion, this conference will present the outlook for food security in the region, and data on the current contribution of regional trade to food security.  

The three-day conference will include a Forum for Private Sector Action and Public-Private Dialogue.
The Forum will give private sector actors opportunities to discuss challenges and solutions to regional trade and develop an advocacy plan.

In the Public-Private Dialogue, stakeholders will learn about West Africa’s food security outlook and regional trade, so as to best agree on priority actions within an agenda for removing challenges to regional trade in West Africa.

During breaks, participants will be able to visit an onsite Business Fair that will enable suppliers and buyers to meet, discuss, and establish business relationships. This collective effort by ECOWAS and USAID will bolster commitment by key stakeholders to increase regional trade and augment food security in West Africa.

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