Policy

In 2010 USAID ATP and E-ATP posted a policy advisor to the Economic Community of the West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria.  This not only makes closer collaboration possible with the ECOWAS Commission’s agriculture department, where our policy advisor is located, but also with other departments, such as customs, trade, transport, legal, private sector, monitoring and evaluation, external relations and communications, whose activities also have a bearing on the development of agricultural trade.  In March 2011, value chain representatives went on an advocacy mission to ECOWAS headquarters.  Click here to read more.

Removing public policy barriers is a long, protracted process. At the regional level, ECOWAS still lacks adequate capacity to monitor and implement its measures. At the national level, slow pace of official procedures and reaction makes it difficult to maintain the momentum of advocacy groups.

The strategy for enhancing the regional institutional capacity involves fostering close collaboration among the ECOWAS departments in a coordinated drive to improve regional food security through increased support to agricultural production and trade activities; promoting a structured regional approach to the implementation of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme; and mobilizing and sensitizing key actors to ensure effective application of the ECOWAS intra-regional trade regime.

The policy areas in which we concentrate our efforts are:

• Seasonal restrictions on cereal exports:  Under ECOWAS free trade arrangements, these are illegal and comprise the biggest non-tariff barrier with which cereal operators have to deal.

• Regional transit arrangements: Updating the ECOWAS Inter-State Road Transit arrangements is a priority issue because value chain operators continue to face transit difficulties (even though they are transporting agricultural goods that are duty-free under the ECOWAS intra-regional trade regime); the operators also need access to modern features, such as electronic tracking of transit operations and the development of joint border posts.

• Public sensitization program: One major impediment to the correct application of regional policy reform measures is the lack of information on the ECOWAS policy provisions and instruments. The policy team has therefore initiated discussions with the ECOWAS communications department on the formulation of a multi-year program of sensitization and public awareness.

• Updating information on value chain-specific barriers: The policy team encourages value chain actors to document policy barriers specific to trade in their commodity.

Working with our trade partners and regional and national public policy entities, we implement a strategy that consists of identifying and studying barriers to trade, informing public officials, supporting advocacy efforts to ensure compliance with existing rules and regulations, and enhancing the trade environment through our activities, thus creating confidence in the region’s ability to meet its food demand year-round. 

In FY10, we In FY10, we assisted ECOWAS in the development of a policy watch system (PWS) to help the regional economic community develop a system and capacity for monitoring and coordinating policy implementation. PWS focuses on four critical interrelated areas: regional policy framework, coordination of policy implementation, policy adaptation and application, and monitoring and evaluation of regional policy implementation.