Following the specialised technical experts’ meeting, ECOWAS ministers endorsed the new ECOWAS Regional Agricultural Investment Plan and Food and Nutrition Security (RAIPFNS) on 12 December 2016 in Abuja. They also adopted a strategic framework for 2016-20, including a results framework to measure the impact and progress made in its implementation. The new plan builds on an in-depth assessment of achievements and takes stock of the limits of the ECOWAS regional agricultural policy, known as ECOWAP. Read on

The October 2016 analysis of the Cadre harmonisé expanded its coverage to include, for the first time, 16 out of 36 Nigerian states, almost half of the country. In these states, some 8 million people are currently facing acute food insecurity (phases 3-5, October-December 2016). Read on

According to the findings of the Cadre harmonisé analysis of August 2016, some 4.4 million people in northeastern Nigeria were facing acute food insecurity (phases 3-5) requiring urgent humanitarian assistance. In the worst affected and less accessible pockets of Borno state, nearly 60 000 people face the threat of famine (phase 5). Read on

African leaders gathered from 10-15 October at the Summit on Maritime Security and safety, held in Lomé within the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government. Twenty-two African delegations adopted the African Charter on Maritime Security, Safety and Development. The Charter aims to put into place an African strategy for the protection of its seas and oceans, to ensure peace, security and stability, and to make the African maritime space the key driver for sustainable economic development. Read on