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The first delocalized meeting of the fourth legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament was held from November 1 to 5, 2016, in Dakar, Senegal. During this regional meeting, the Joint Committee of the Parliament of the Economic Community pleaded for the urgent integration of Guinea Bissau into the West African Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP). This program is financially facilitated by the World Bank and coordinated by the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD).

The deputies on the joint committee also recommended that future WAPP Centers of Excellence be extended to all member states "in line with their skills and comparative advantages".

They also called for the "Sahel Irrigation Initiative" to be extended to all member states, and for the World Bank to be involved to provide additional funding. The deputies were asked to ensure that the commitment made by African countries to devote 10% of national budgets to the agricultural sector was respected.

The Dakar meeting revolved around the theme "The ECOWAS Regional Agricultural Investment Plan (PRIA) and member states' National Agricultural Investment Plans (PNIA) in the context of the proposed revision of ECOWAP 2016-2025″. The MPs took advantage of the meeting to make a proposal for the revision of the West African Common Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), the reference framework that defines the principles and objectives assigned to the agricultural sector and guides interventions in terms of agricultural development.

ECOWAP aims to make agriculture a modern, sustainable sector, based on the effectiveness and efficiency of family farms and the promotion of agricultural enterprises through private-sector participation.