News

A four-day virtual stakeholder conference entitled "Under the palaver tree: unpacking Food System Resilience in West Africa", was held from July 6 to 9, 2020 in preparation for the Food System Resilience Program (FSRP). The FSRP is a regional flagship investment project piloted by ECOWAS, CILSS, CORAF, and co-financed by the World Bank.

The bilingual virtual stakeholder meeting, symbolizing the palaver tree, served as a platform for exchange and sharing for participants from West African countries and entities such as regional bodies, development partners and private sector representatives, plus academics and civil society. The aim of the event was to gather participants' comments, ideas and suggestions on how to overcome the problems facing the West African food system, and to :

• present the initial phase of the FSRP concept;
• identify, at regional level, the priorities of the West African food system that are eligible for investment by the PRSF;
• discuss ways of improving the initial FSRP concept and strengthening resilience when designing projects
• get to know each other and explore synergies and opportunities for collaboration with technical and financial partners ;
• learn from the experience of local experts regarding the specific vulnerability context of West African food systems, with the aim of enriching the draft report, and then identifying gaps to be filled in preparation for the planned analytical work to be carried out by the analysis and advisory services of the World Bank, which works to strengthen the resilience of regional food systems in West Africa.

Read the full report here