ECOWAS Rice Observatory to Hold its First Annual General Assembly in Abuja, Nigeria

ERO Press Release/09/21/2024

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Rice Observatory (ERO) has announced hosting its first Annual General Assembly, scheduled from May 21st to May 23rd, 2024, in Abuja, Nigeria.

The assembly is a forum organized to allow participants from across the sub-region to share views on best practices towards aligning goals and charting a roadmap to accelerate the growth of a competitive rice sector in West Africa.

According to the ECOWAS Rice Observatory (ERO), though domestic rice production has improved in West African countries since the 2008 food crisis, yet it only meets 60% of the region’s increasing demand and preference.

To address this, in 2014, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission adopted the ECOWAS Rice Offensive – a strategic framework of the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP) in line with the Continental Agenda – Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) to engender a sustainable and sustained revival of rice cultivation in West Africa and support National Rice Development Strategies (NRDS) of member states. The objective of this scheme is to achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2025.

The ECOWAS Rice Observatory (ERO) is an outcome of consultative workshops, field research, and recommendations from public and private sector partners across the ECOWAS Member States and was jointly created by the ECOWAS Commission and its partners in December 2021.

The General Assembly of ERO represents a significant milestone in the efforts to enhance rice production, distribution, and food security across West Africa. The event will bring together key stakeholders within the rice value chain drawn from farmers’ organizations, processors and millers, traders and distributors, input suppliers, research institutions, government agencies and ministries, development organizations and NGOs, financial institutions, ERO national chapters, and ECOWAS Member States rice taskforce members.

Stakeholders in the Assembly will examine and validate recommendations as well as the ECO-WAS rice roadmap and ERO’s strategy and orientation for implementation. The two-day meeting will also provide an opportunity for fostering networking and partnership among stakeholders towards developing a robust and sustainable rice sector in West Africa.

The goal of ERO is to support West Africa achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2030 through profitable, resilient, and environmentally sustainable farming and milling enterprises that contribute to rural economic growth, poverty reduction, and women’s equity.

Created by the ECOWAS Commission within the framework of the Rice Offensive, it coordinates rice sector-re-lated programs, public/private investments, and policy recommendations for key decision-makers. ERO also serves as a platform for data collection, analysis, and information exchange.