ABUJA, Nigeria — According to the March 2024 food and nutrition situation analysis of the Cadre Harmonisé, about 50 million people in West Africa and the Sahel, including more than 1 million people in Ghana, are food insecure and need assistance to cover their basic food needs. Against this backdrop, the ECOWAS Commission decided to donate 500 Metric Tons of cereals to Ghana as the expression of regional solidarity.

The Handover ceremony took place on Tuesday 17 September 2024 in Accra at the premises of Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture in the presence of the Honourable Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Bryan ACHEAMPONG. ECOWAS donated 500 Tons of cereals made up of maize, sorghum, millet and rice from the Regional Food Security Reserve (RFSR) under the auspices of Mrs. Massandjé TOURE-LITSE, ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture and in the presence of the ECOWAS Delegation composed of Mr Charles NDIAYE, representing the Resident-Representative of ECOWAS in Ghana, Mr Mohamed ZONGO, Acting Executive Director of the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) and Mr Malick LOMPO, Head of the RFSR Division.

This support results from the decision of the ECOWAS Commission to mobilize 5,370 tonnes of cereals for the most affected six (06) countries, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The Republic of Ghana received 500 Metric Tons, in response to the difficult food situation that some populations are undergoing in the country. For the ECOWAS speaker at the Ceremony, Charles NDIAYE, “this donation is for ECOWAS an expression of its solidarity to the brothers and sisters of Ghana suffering from difficult food situation. ECOWAS remains committed to stand alongside Ghana and the other member States in facing these difficult situations”.

This expression of regional solidarity is a contribution from ECOWAS to support the various efforts already underway. The donation will help to strengthen the resilience of populations affected by the difficult food situation according to Minister Bryan. “It is truly an honour for the Government of Ghana to receive these Cereals through this important ceremony which symbolizes the solidarity between the ECOWAS Commission, the Member States and especially the People of Ghana. Considering the preoccupying food and nutritional situation in Ghana, we have made a new request to the ECOWAS Commission for more cereals to meet urgent needs”, he said.

To recall, in December 2018, as part of a technical rotation, Ghana received 2,750 tonnes of food grains from ECOWAS to support its national School Canteen Programme.

The Regional Reserve intervened 20 times between 2017 and July 2024 to support six countries in the region (Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria) for a total of about 59,977 tonnes of cereals.

The Regional Food Security Reserve is the third line of defence of the ECOWAS regional food security storage strategy, adopted by the 15 Member States and created by a Supplementary Act to the ECOWAS Treaty on 28 February 2013.

ECOWAS therefore believes that the development of food security storage at the three complementary levels, namely local stocks, national security stocks and regional stocks, allows the region to strengthen its risk management capacity and its food sovereignty.

ECOWAS is grateful to the various technical and financial partners who have been supporting the operationalization of the Regional Food Security Reserve since 2016. Such partners are mainly the European Union, the French Development Agency (AFD), the Spanish Cooperation (AECID), USAID and the World Bank.