As the main component of the ECOWAS Food Storage Strategy, the Regional Food Security Reserve constitutes a third line of response to crises, after local/community-level and national food reserves. Adopted in February 2013 at the ECOWAS Heads of State Conference in Yamoussoukro, the reserve is an important instrument of regional solidarity. Read on

Nigerian Minister of Health Isaac Adewole declared on 27 June a "nutrition emergency" in Borno State, where a large portion of the population is facing problems with access to food, water and health services due to the conflict in the north-east of the country. Information from recent rapid assessments raises the possibility that a famine could be occurring in the worst affected and less accessible pockets of the state. Read on

From 17 to 19 May, UEMOA organised the 4th meeting of the Regional Consultative Committee for Agricultural Sectors (CCRFA) in Ouagadougou. Under the theme of "Strengthening the involvement of agricultural professional actors in the implementation of the UEMOA Agricultural Policy (PAU)," the meeting brought together members of the Network of Farmers' and Agricultural Producers' Organisations of West Africa (ROPPA), several sub-regional and national professional organisations, government representatives and technical and financial partners. Read on

West African ministers came together to outline a course of action to accelerate progress on the Great Green Wall. The First Conference of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative was held from 2-7 May in Dakar, bringing together ministers from countries north and south of the Sahara as well as their development partners. Organised by the African Union, the high-level conference follows on the COP21 climate change conference, during which the international community pledged an additional USD 4 billion in support for the Great Green Wall over the next 5 years. Read on