Twenty-three (23) stakeholders and partners specialized in agricultural trade and markets in West Africa and Chad now have a better understanding of the ECOWAS Agricultural Trade and Market SCORECARD (EATM-SCORECARD).

The participants, from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Chad and Togo, and partner organisations CILSS and WACTAF (West Africa Association for Cross-Border Trade, in Agro-forestry-pastoral, fisheries products and Food), reviewed the methodology of the EATM-SCORECARD from 19 to 22 February 2024 in Abuja/Nigeria, the data collection process, and the use of the handling and reporting platform. They in turn have the onerous task of training other actors in the field in their respective countries to facilitate data collection and handling.

With the active participation of members of the Regional Task Force from the ECOWAS Directorates of Trade, Agriculture, Customs, Industry and Free Movement, the workshop, which combined theory and practice, enabled the AKADEMIYA2063 trainers to gather additional needs from countries to finalize the platform and thus facilitate its use by stakeholders at all levels.

The results generated by the EATM-SCORECARD should be used by decision-makers to influence policy reforms for the promotion of intra-regional trade and strengthen policy implementation, as underlined by the Director of Trade of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Kolawole SOFOLA: “It is crucial that we recognise the importance of data in policy formulation and decision-making. Accurate and timely data can help governments design appropriate agricultural policies, anticipate food crises, support small-scale farmers, especially women and young people, and promote regional and international trade”.

As a reminder, this activity is part of the implementation of the West Africa Food System Resilience Program (FSRP), which considers “the integration of regional food markets and trade” as a major axis and aims to facilitate trade in agricultural goods and inputs within and across national borders in West Africa.

The training of trainers workshop in Abuja/Nigeria is an important phase in the process of deploying the EATM-SCORECARD in countries, with the knowledge acquired being put into practice. The national and regional stakeholders have agreed on a timetable to formalize the formation of teams in the countries to move on to data collection and handling, with the aim of having country scores before the start of the last quarter of 2024.