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One of the largest West African agricultural projects in modern history is about to enter its final turning point. Presented by its initiators as a novelty and the first of its kind in the region's history, the Programme de Productivité Agricole en Afrique de l'Ouest (PPAAO) officially comes to an end on December 31, 2019.

But before that, the countries will meet once again to assess the progress made in implementing the current phase, pay tribute to one of the program's architects, and determine how best to build on the infrastructure put in place by the WAPP.

On November 19, 2019, program implementers from four countries (Benin, Guinea, Niger and Togo) will meet in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The following day (November 20), the players will assess the program's achievements and lay the foundations for the future on the basis of the state-of-the-art infrastructure generated by the PPAAO, and pay tribute to Abdoulaye Touré, who passed away on June 16, 2019, while leading the program's Task Force as head of the PPAAO Task Force.

"We set up the WAPP not only to increase productivity, but also to promote our most cherished value, regional integration through agriculture. Ten years on, everyone can see the results of the WAPP. In many respects, the WAPP has even exceeded expectations", declares His Excellency Sékou Sangare, ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources.

ECOWAS launched the WAPP with funding from the World Bank. The governments of Spain, Japan and Denmark provided co-financing, while CORAF was responsible for regional coordination.

A new feature

"The WAPP is a novelty in many respects. It has brought together for the first time researchers, extension workers, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and many other players under the political leadership of ECOWAS and with the financial support of the World Bank," said Alain Sy Traoré, ECOWAS Director of Agriculture.

Overall, 13 West African countries have participated in the WAPP throughout the current decade. Its overriding aim was to increase productivity, reduce hunger, improve nutrition, create jobs and support cross-border collaboration.

"As a regional coordination, supervision and monitoring mechanism, the WAPP has been a significant success. Providing loans and grants to one country, with a regional coordinating body responsible for ensuring consistency of action, avoiding duplication, and with each national coordinating unit acting independently and sovereignly is excellent. This has facilitated the pooling of resources and the sharing of research results. So, for us, this is a major success, thanks to a financing and governance mechanism", added Alain Sy Traoré.

Breaking down barriers and strengthening regionalization

Getting thirteen independent countries to work together on a single project can be extremely challenging. But the WAPP has been designed so that countries must work together to generate and disseminate technologies.

Over the past ten years, the program has developed and scaled up more than 200 technologies. They are available on the MITA (Market for Agricultural Innovations and Technologies) platform.

"The program has helped to create a unique space for the production and dissemination of technology. This is the main success of the program," said Abdoulaye Touré.

The rice seeder, composite bread technology and high-yield cassava variety originally developed in Mali, Senegal and Ghana, respectively, are now being used in West Africa.

More than 100 technologies have crossed the borders of their country of creation.

"We need borderless solutions that speak no language. The challenges we face are language-neutral, and therefore we need language-neutral solutions," says Dr. Abdou Tenkouano, Executive Director of CORAF.

All these achievements have made the PPAAO a novelty, despite the many challenges that remain to build a sustainable agri-food system in West Africa.

"We want to build on the existing program to intensify innovation. In the same vein, we want to address gaps in governance, technology dissemination and adoption, leadership, coordination, communication and media awareness," says ECOWAS Director of Agriculture

Impressive results

Six million people were targeted when the WAPP was conceived in 2008. But the program has exceeded this target, directly reaching over 9 million people. In addition, 56 million people have been indirectly reached in participating countries. Available data show that the program has reached around four million women, i.e. around 40% of all beneficiaries.

The program has had a significant impact on food security and caloric intake, increasing yields of the main crops to 30% for dry cereals and 150% for rice, fruits and tubers. Caloric consumption rose from 2,777 to 2,964 kcals, and the hunger gap was reduced from 28% to 55%, depending on the product. PPAAO has also improved the economic situation of farmers by 34%, just as it has transformed that of communities.

Average income has risen by over 35% for more than 7 million small-scale producers in the 13 countries benefiting from the program. Average yields have risen by around 30% thanks to the introduction of improved varieties of millet, sorghum, maize and fonio.

Over 1,000 Master's and PhD candidates have been trained under the PPAAO program. These young researchers are already working in their home countries. In the long term, they are expected to take over from a mostly aging agricultural research community in West Africa.

The WAPP has also helped facilitate the harmonization of seed regulations in West Africa. Trade has been facilitated and market access improved thanks to the adoption by 17 countries in the region of this common regional regulatory framework.

Read PPAAO success stories:

• Collaborative research boosts plantain cultivation in Burkina Faso
• Harmonized regional seed regulations: the first signs of a windfall for companies
• Nigeria's new blue-collar workers in the aquaculture sector
• Private investment boosts fish feed production in Nigeria
• Gender-sensitive WAPP technology elevates women's dignity in Nigeria
• Nigeria: an innovative model to attract young teenagers to aquaculture on the move
• Niger: Innovations double milk production in Toukounous
• Leading regional agricultural research programs share experiences
• Eight Niger ministers show their support for the WAPP

• PPAAO sows more resilient seeds in Senegal
• "Senegalese farmers are buying less rice".
• Regional cooperation boosts Senegal's cassava sector
• A budding researcher whose sole ambition is to increase milk production in Niger
• At 25, she becomes a millionaire thanks to aquaculture
• The paradox of Senegal's agro-processors
• Earn 85 million FCFA ($180,000) a year with PPAAO technology