ECOWAS Donates 2,238,000 US Dollars to Agricultural Centres in the Region to Boost Youth Employment

The ECOWAS Commission, as part of the Regional Strategy for Youth Employment in Agricultural Value Chains has donated Two Million, Two Hundred and Thirty-Eight thousand US Dollars (2,238,000 US Dollars) to Ten (10) Agricultural Research Centres in the Region and Five (5) Agroecology and Organic production Centers and  Songhai Centers , today, February 25, 2025, in Porto Novo, Republic of Benin. The grant was given to train 3,850 young people, 40% of whom are women to Boost Youth Employment in the Region.

The cheques were presented by Mrs. Massandjé TOURE-LITSE, the Commissioner of Eco-nomic Affairs and Agriculture, of the ECOWAS Commission on behalf of H.E. Dr Omar Alieu TOURAY, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, at the opening ceremony of the workshop to sensitise and mobilise the various beneficiary Centres of the 2024/2025 Grant on the content of the Regional Strategy for Youth Employment in Agricultural Value Chains and the issues related to the professional integration of young people in the agro-sylvo-pastoral and halieutic sector at the Songhai Centre in Porto Novo.

In her opening remarks, Mrs. Massandjé TOURE-LITSE highlighted that “this initiative is fully in line with ECOWAS vision of promoting sustainable, inclusive and innovative agricultural development. Training young people means investing in our collective future. It means giving them the tools they needed to transform our agriculture, improve productivity and strengthen the competitiveness of our agricultural sectors. It is also a way of combating unemployment by offering them concrete prospects for self-employment and entrepreneurship”.

While welcoming participants to the workshop, Prof. Godfrey NZAMUJO, Director of the Songhai Centre commended ECOWAS for taking this decisive step. “What we are launching today is far more than a training program. It is the foundation of a new economic paradigm—one where agriculture, industry and services work in synergy to drive sustainable development, environmental regeneration and wealth creation. It is an opportunity to redefine development in Africa, shifting from short-term interventions to transformative, scalable solutions that directly address the root causes of poverty, unemployment and ecological degradation”, he added.

The breakdown of the grant is as follow: 936,000 USD for the SONGHAI Centres; 708,000 USD for CORAF and 10 National Agricultural Research Centers (CNRA) in the Member States, 594,000 USD for the Agroecological and Organic Production Centers for the implementation of the Organic and Ecological Agriculture Initiative (EOA-I) of the Conference of Heads of State of Government of the African Union on behalf of the States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).