The ECOWAS Centre for Gender Development (ECGD) and the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) Join Forces to Promote Gender and Agricultural Development in West Africa

The ECOWAS Centre for Gender Development (ECGD) and the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) held their first working session on 25 July 2024 in Lome, Togo, to explore avenues for collaboration between the two institutions. This working session, which took place at the RAAF headquarters, marks an important step towards strengthening the mainstreaming of gender in development projects, particularly agricultural development projects in West Africa.

The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss possible areas of collaboration between the two organisations with a view to maximising synergies in their respective projects. The representatives of the two delegations, including their respective directors, explored points of synergy based on the current and future projects of the ECGD and the RAAF, with particular attention to be paid to projects for the empowerment of rural women and food and nutritional security.

Drawing on their comparative advantages, the ECGD and the RAAF have agreed to pool their resources and skills with a view to strengthening the impact of their initiatives on the ground and developing joint initiatives that integrate gender and youth issues.

The two parties also agreed on the importance of training rural women in modern agricultural techniques and financial management in order to make them more self-sufficient. The collaborative projects should also help to support the sustainable development of rural communities, encourage the promotion of local products in school and community food programmes, and enhance the value of women’s work in agricultural value chains.

At the end of the discussions, the two organisations pledged to continue their discussions with a view to defining further the form that this collaboration, which they so earnestly desire, could take. This more in-depth discussion will make it possible to initiate, as soon as possible, concrete projects that commit and involve both organisations.