The Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF) is a specialised Agency of the ECOWAS Commission created on 19 August 2011 by Regulation No. C/REG.1/08/11 of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers as part of the operationalization of the Regional Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP).
Officially launched on 27 September 2013, its mandate is to ensure the technical implementation of regional programmes and investment plans contributing to the operationalization of ECOWAP by relying on regional institutions, bodies and actors with proven expertise.
RAAF is responsible for coordinating and facilitating the implementation of the Regional Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP). It does not implement actions directly on the ground, but contracts technical institutions and all players with proven skills in their field of expertise. The approach is essentially based on getting things done.
To implement the Regional Agricultural Policy, RAAF's work is built around 9 major thematic areas:
- Resilience, food, and nutrition security.
- Agricultural productivity and competitiveness.
- Livestock and pastoralism.
- Fisheries and Aquaculture.
- Environment, forests and conservation.
- Pest and pesticide management.
- Climate change and agroecology.
- Youth employability.
- Capacity building.
Funding for RAAF is essentially made up of resources allocated by the Administration and Finance Committee of the ECOWAS Commission from the Community levy collected from Member States.
ECOWAS' technical and financial partners also contribute to the funding of the programmes and projects implemented by RAAF.
RAAF is the ECOWAS Commission's Specialised Agency for the implementation of the Regional Agricultural Policy.
As such, RAAF is an integral part of the ECOWAS Commission.
The beneficiaries of RAAF's projects are first and foremost the ECOWAS Member States. However, within the framework of the partnership with some institutions, the interventions may be extended to non-ECOWAS countries.
Within the framework of some regional initiatives, RAAF, with the support of technical and financial partners, grants subsidies, through calls for proposals, to projects in the field that are carried out and implemented by the public and private sectors, NGOs and farmers' associations and organisations in the region.
No, RAAF does not directly support individual projects.
RAAF is based in Lomé, Togo and benefits from the privileges of the Headquarters Agreement that the Togolese Government granted to ECOWAS on 26 November 2012 for this purpose. It is located at 4th and 5th Floors, Immeuble de la CRBC,Place de la Réconciliation, Cité OUA, Quartier Atchanté, 01 BP 4817 Lomé 01, Togo.