In 2005, the ECOWAS Heads of States adopted the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), as an instrument for the coordination of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP), the agricultural component of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), within the region. This policy has a vision of “a modern and sustainable agriculture, based on the effectiveness and efficiency of family farms and the promotion of agricultural enterprises through the involvement of the private sector. Productive and competitive in the intra-Community and International markets, it must ensure food security and remunerative incomes to its workers”.

In 2015, ECOWAP/CAADP was reviewed and a strategic policy developed. The 2016-2025 ECOWAP/CAADP strategic policy framework is to be executed through in Regional Agricultural Investment Plan for Food and Nutrition Security (RAIPFNS) in five-year program component.

The ECOWAP of 2005 had as its overall objective, meeting the food needs of ECOWAS citizens, economic development and the overall reduction in poverty levels in the region. The overall objective of the 2025 strategic policy framework is to “contribute in a sustainably way to meeting the food and nutritional needs of the population, economic and social development and poverty reduction in the Member States, and inequalities between territories, zones and countries”.

The implementation of ECOWAS/CAADP is based on the implementation of investment programs at the national level (NAIP) as well as at the regional level.

The Regional Agricultural Investment Program (RAIP) consists of six components:

1. The improvement of water management, consisting of (i) the improvement of irrigation, (ii) the integrated management of invasive aquatic plants and (iii) capacity building for organizations in the cross-border basins;
2. The improved management of other shared natural resources, including (i) the organization of transhumance and the planning of the route taken, (ii) the sustainable management of forest resources and (iii) the sustainable management of fish resources;
3. The sustainable development of farms, taking into account (i) the integrated management of soil fertility, (ii) the strengthening of support services provided to producers and (iii) the dissemination of improved technologies;
4. The development of agricultural value chains and the promotion of the markets, consisting of (i) the development of the different value chains (food, peri-urban agriculture, export crops, short-cycle breeding, agro-forestry products, non-industrial fishing and aquaculture), (ii) the development of product processing, (iii) the strengthening of support services provided to operators and (iv) the promotion of national, regional and international trade;
5. The prevention and management of food crises and other natural catastrophes, focusing on (i) the promotion of early warning systems, (ii) the development of crises management systems, (ii) support for the rehabilitation of zones after crises and (iv) the development of compensation mechanisms/insurance against catastrophes;
6. Institutional strengthening, including (i) the integration of a standard approach, (ii) support for the improvement of agricultural and rural policy and strategy formulation capacities, (iii) the sustainable financing of agriculture, (iv) communication, (v) steering and coordination capacity building and (vi) monitoring and evaluation capacity building