Forum plans agroecology, organic farming workshop in Abuja 

A forum, West Africa Agroecology Alliance and West Africa Organic Network (WAfrONet), in partnership with ECOWAS and ActionAid, Nigeria have concluded arrangements to bring together over 400 participants to brainstorm on food sovereignty in the West African sub-region.

According to a statement, the workshop scheduled to take place between October 21 and 24; will feature experts from various sectors, networks of farmers’ organisations, public institutions, civil societies, researchers, policymakers, and private sector players, reflecting on financial policies, mechanisms towards strengthening food systems.

It also stated that West Africa is faced with major challenges, such as structural food and nutrition insecurity, effects of climate change through extreme weather and events (droughts,  floods, heat waves, etc.), as well as rising sea levels.

Others are salinisation and physico-chemical degradation of agricultural land and growing insecurity that weakens production systems, while the overall objective of the forum is to promote the development of sustainable food systems with a view to strengthening the adoption of policies and sustainable public interventions based on the best practices of Climate Smart Agriculture.