The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has signed grant agreements with 15 training centres to build capacity for agroecology in member states.
Development Diaries reports that President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, signed the agreements as part of the implementation of the ECOWAS Agroecology programme co-funded by the European Union and the French Development Agency.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defines agroecology as an integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of food and agricultural systems.
Most African nations are faced with the dilemma of how to conquer hunger and meet the growing climate challenge.
The continent is warming faster than the rest of the world, despite contributing less than five percent of global carbon emissions historically.
ECOWAS, in a statement, noted that the total budget of the grant agreements is €1,320,784.43 representing about €88,000 per centre and for an average duration of 18 months.
The commission aims to train 12,000 young persons in the region.
‘The purpose of each grant is to establish the framework of collaboration between ECOWAS and the recipient centre for the implementation of the programme activities in West Africa with the general objective of building the human resource and environmentally friendly system that will sustain and increase agricultural productivity and create resilient rural society’, the statement read.
It is understood that the ECOWAS agroecology programme aims to support family farms towards an agroecological transition that enables them to reconcile economic performance, food security, environmental preservation, and the health of the population.
Experts have identified agroecology as a vital way of tackling the challenge of food insecurity facing the continent.
A report from Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) shows that Africa is projected to overtake South Asia by 2030 as the region with the greatest number of hungry people.
It noted that an alarming 264 million people in Africa now suffer from ‘undernourishment’, and if policies do not change, the number might soar to 433 million in 2030.
Source: ECOWAS
Photo source: FAO
