Department of Agriculture, the Environment and Water Resources

ECOWAP/CAADP process

Guide to the operations of the Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Food (ACAF)

December 2012

With the technical support of:

/ Supporting rural development stakeholders in Western
and Central Africa
( Hub Rural)

Sacré-Coeur III Extension n° 10406, Dakar Sénégal site web: w

I.Introduction

  1. During the international conference on financing ECOWAP held in Abuja in the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 11 and 12 November 2009, the stakeholders and signatories of the Regional Partnership Compact made ECOWAP/CAADP the reference development framework for the agricultural sector in West Africa. Among a range of other commitments, they also agreed to implement an institutional mechanism founded on three principles: (i) political leadership clearly assumed by ECOWAS with regard to implementing agricultural policy, (ii) policy management bringing together the main actors in the sector (partnership, dialogue) and (iii) predictable and secure procedures relating to financial management, control and monitoring/evaluation.
  1. The institutional mechanism ofECOWAP resulting from the commitment of the stakeholders is designed to:
  • manage the coordinated implementation of the regional agricultural policy and lead the regional and international negotiations relating to the sector;
  • coordinate the implementation of the national agricultural investment programmes (NAIPs);
  • Implement the Regional Agricultural Investment Plan (RAIP);
  • Contribute to examining decisions concerning several departments within ECOWAS, in particular with regard to public policy reforms (instruments or tools for managing the sector at regional level, harmonisation and convergence of national policies);
  • Ensure the monitoring/evaluation of the policy, the programmes and the policy instruments.
  • To support the statutory bodies of ECOWAS responsible for agricultural and food issues (the Specialised Technical Committee on Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources; the Department of Agriculture, the Environment and Water Resources; the Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development) in implementing ECOWAP, a specific institutional mechanism has been designed around three functions: (i) political functions focussing on the managementthrough which ECOWAS intends to assert its leadership of regional agricultural policy, coordination, informationmonitoring and monitoring/evaluation; (ii) implementation functions entrusted to a new body – the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) – which draws up contracts with local and regional actors; and (iii) financing functions relating to the scheduled investments devolved to (ECOWADF/BIDC).
  • In addition to the implementation and financing functions, the management function is of prime importance. These functions aim to:
  • providethe region with real leadership by managing the programmes;
  • translate the orientations and priorities of the ECOWAP regional agricultural policy in the programmes, operational projects and policy instruments. This objective focuses on the creation of action plans and instruments for the implementation of the Regional Agricultural Investment Plan;
  • advise the different bodies of ECOWAS concerning the issues impacting the development of the regional agricultural sector;
  • submit recommendations to the bodies of ECOWAS, in particular to the Inter-departmental Committee, concerning the specific measures to be taken in fields where the policies may impact the objectives of regional agricultural policy and to ensure the transparency of the support and its convergence in a spirit of collective effectiveness;
  • submit recommendations concerning the risks of overlap between the different support actions / programmes and, conversely, the risk of not being covered (for example multi-country programmes only covering part of the region);
  • submit recommendations to mobilise and concentrate financing on the priorities identified by the region;
  • to facilitate the implementation of joint monitoring/evaluation mechanisms enabling the actors to improve dialogue on the effectiveness of the policies and the programmes and to reduce the costs generated.

II.Mandate of the Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Food

  1. The implementation of the Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Food aimsto institutionalise the multi-party partnership initiated within the ECOWAP/CAADP process in implementing regional agricultural policy. The objective was to perpetuate the participative and inclusive approachwhich governed the definition of regional agricultural policy, an approach which enabled all regional actors as well as technical and financial partners to be involved.
  1. TheAdvisory Committee on Agriculture and Food represents a forum for regular dialogue between regional and international actors. It has no decision-making role but provides the Commission and the ECOWAS statutory bodies with advice and reasoned opinions concerning all aspects relating to the implementation of ECOWAP/CAADP.
  1. The Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Food is consulted on all questions relating to the implementation of ECOWAP/CAADP. Its mission is to advise theECOWAS institutions on regional agricultural and food policy.
  1. It iscalled onfor its opinion on the strategic plans and other initiatives contributing to making the orientations of the regional agricultural policyoperational.
  1. In particular, it is called on to:
  2. give an opinion on the strategic orientations of ECOWAP/CAADP. From this standpoint, it issues an opinion on the policies and strategies likely to represent an obstacle to achieving the objectives of the agricultural policy. This is the case of the land policies implemented by the states as well as the fiscal, trade and investment policies, etc.;
  3. give an opinion on the provisional annual operation plan of the regional investment programme developed by the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food;
  4. give an opinion on the budgetary orientations of the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food and the ECOWADF fund;
  5. examiner the annual monitoring/evaluation report of the DAERE, the RAAF, the implementation report from the Regional Fund for Agriculture and Food (ECOWDF);
  6. submit all questions deemed useful by the members when making ECOWAP/CAADPoperational to the ECOWAS Commission;
  7. develop a framework for discussion on the initiatives of the different stakeholders in a spirit of coordination;
  8. monitor the implementation of the ECOWAPregional partnership compact.

III.Composition of the ACAF

  1. The composition of the Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Food complies with the aim of ensuring equitable representation between the representatives of the member states, the ECOWAS parliament, the professional organisations (agricultural organisations and agri-food private sector), the regional cooperation bodies and the technical and financial partners. The Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Food includes:
  2. representatives of the ECOWAS institutions, in particular:

i)the President of the Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development within the ECOWAS parliament;

ii)the Commissioner responsible for Agriculture, the Environment and Water Resources;

iii)the Director of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment;

  1. representatives of themember states

i)the ministers of agriculture of three member states including the Minister of Agriculture for the country currently presiding over ECOWAS. The two other countries are designated on a rota system by the other states of the Community. The terms for designating these countries will be established by the internal regulations of the ACAF;

  1. representatives of the signatories of the compact:

i)four representatives of professional agricultural organisations;

ii)representatives of the private sector (network of chambers of agriculture and of the operators in the agri-food sector, the commercial banks);

iii)representatives of the civil society;

  1. representatives of the regionalinstitutions:

i)The Executive Secretary of the Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel(CILSS);

ii)The Director of Agriculture of the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) Commission;

iii)the coordinator of the Conference of Ministers of Agriculture of Western and Central Africa (CMA/AOC);

iv)The Executive Secretary of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (WECARD);

v)The Director of the Africa Rice Centre;

vi)The Executive Director of the Hub Rural;

  1. three representatives of the designated technical and financial partners within the TFP coordination group, including the leader of the donors’ group;
  2. two representatives of the NGOs supporting agricultural development, appointed by POSCAO,
  3. external guests or experts either from the region or from further afield. Depending on the agenda, the President of ACAFmay invite the personalities he deems necessary to contribute to the ACAF debates;
  4. the Executive Director of the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food and the officer responsible for ECOWADF, who participate in the work without being entitled to vote.
  1. The Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Food is chaired by the Minister of Agriculture for the country currently presiding over ECOWAS. A representative of the professional agricultural organisations, in particular the President of the Board of ROPPA, serves as Vice-President. The Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development within the Department of Agriculture, the Environment and Water Resources assumes the role of Secretariat of theAdvisory Committee on Agriculture and Food.

IV.Operations of ACAF

  1. As indicated above, theAdvisory Committee on Agriculture and Foodis an ad-hoc body with no permanent secretary. ACAF meets once a year at the invitation of its President. It can also meet at the request of one of the ECWOAS statutory bodies, in particular the Specialised Technical Committee on Agriculture, Environmentand Water Resources, the President of the Commission or upon formal request submitted by at least two third of the members.
  1. The meeting is planned by the RAAFand the RFAF according to the preparatory schedule relating to the programmes and budgets of the ECOWAS Commission for the following year, as well as the annual RAIP operation plan before it is submitted to the ECOWAS statutory bodies. During this meeting, the delegates will examine the progress report concerning the implementation of the agricultural policy and will give their opinion on the prospects and priorities for the following year.
  1. The agenda of the meeting is provided by the Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development which prepares a technical dossier to be communicated to the president and other members of the committeetwo weeks before each meeting is held. The agenda can be modified by adding or removingitems, subject to approval by the members of the committee.
  1. All meetingsof the committee will be plenary sessions, except in the event of particular circumstances requiring work in sub-commissions. The recommendations of the committee are defined after debates open to all legitimate participating members of the ACAF. The President makes every effort, through dialogue andconsultations, to obtain a consensus with regard to all the recommendations made by the ACAF. If no consensus can be found, the proposals are submitted to a vote and adopted by a majority of two-thirds of the members of the ACAF.
  1. The Committee’s deliberations are presented in a final report initialled by the President and Vice-President before being submitted to the Commission to be communicated to (i) the President of the ECOWAS Parliament, (ii) the President of the Conference of Heads of State and Government and (iii) the President of the Commission. Certaindossiers can also be communicated to the Inter-Departmental Committee for examination and the provision of recommendations to the statutory bodies concerning the trade-offsto be implemented.
  1. The Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Food falls under the aegis of the budget of the Department of Agriculture, the Environment and Water Resources. The budgetary commitments are established in accordance with the procedures in force within ECOWAS.

ACAF road book.

18.The provisional schedule for the activities of the ACAF may include the following stages and actions:

  • January-February 2013: appointmentof the regional members of the ACAF
  • March-April 2013: verification of the administrative documents concerning the representativeness of all members of the ACAF.
  • June –July 2013: first meeting devoted to (i) the adoption of the internal regulations and (ii) the adoption of the first work plan of the RAAFand ECOWADF.