ECOWAS has taken a significant step towards bolstering agricultural resilience and livestock development in West Africa with the signing and launch of two major regional initiatives in partnership with the French Republic.

At a high-level ceremony in Abuja on 4th December 2025, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Dr Omar Alieu Touray, signed the financing agreement for the second phase of the Regional Project to Strengthen a Platform of Solutions in Support of Pastoralism and Livestock Farming in West Africa (PEPISAO II). He also formally inaugurated the West Africa Milk Offensive Support Project (PAOLAO).

The event brought together diplomats, representatives of member states and senior ECOWAS officials, underscoring the region’s collective commitment to strengthening food security, improving pastoral systems and expanding inclusive economic opportunities.

Speaking at the ceremony, ECOWAS Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture, Dr Kalilou Sylla, highlighted the transformative ambitions of the two projects. He noted that PEPISAO II aims to enhance governance in pastoral systems, promote cross-border conflict mitigation and reinforce social cohesion — all critical to stability and mobility in pastoral communities.

PAOLAO, on the other hand, is designed to boost local milk production, develop the dairy value chain and create new employment and entrepreneurship pathways for farmers, herders, young people and women. The initiative seeks to reduce reliance on imported dairy products while strengthening local industry competitiveness.

Dr Sylla emphasised that both projects reflect ECOWAS’s long-standing vision of a resilient, prosperous and integrated West Africa — one where targeted interventions translate into measurable improvements in livelihoods and regional economic performance.

The partnership with the French Republic, he added, demonstrates the importance of coordinated international support in delivering sustainable agricultural transformation across the sub-region.