Following the specialised technical experts’ meeting, ECOWAS ministers endorsed the new ECOWAS Regional Agricultural Investment Plan and Food and Nutrition Security (RAIPFNS) on 12 December 2016 in Abuja. They also adopted a strategic framework for 2016-20, including a results framework to measure the impact and progress made in its implementation. The new plan builds on an in-depth assessment of achievements and takes stock of the limits of the ECOWAS regional agricultural policy, known as ECOWAP. Read on

Undernourishment has decreased: The West Africa region leads the continent in progress toward reducing the number of people suffering from hunger and malnutrition. Despite rapid population growth across the region and recurrent droughts in the Sahel, West Africa has reduced the prevalence of undernourishment by 60% over the last two decades, from 24.2% in 1990-92 to 9.6% in 2014-16. Read on

The city is the engine of the food economy: Rural populations tend to concentrate in areas near cities. The growth of cities therefore stimulates the integration of rural and urban areas, and the vector of integration is trade. Markets provide at least two-thirds of household food consumption in West Africa. Read on

Food security in cities: Urban food insecurity is a real problem, the scale of which is likely to increase as urban populations expand. The problem is poorly documented, however, and its unique characteristics should be better taken into account in food and nutrition monitoring systems. Read on