West Africa: Food Security: W/Africa May Face Severe Crisis

allAfrica.com: West Africa: Food Security: W/Africa May Face Severe Crisis - Ecowas: "...The report said the challenge comprises two important dimensions: the preservation of natural resources in a context of rising agricultural production and a reduction in poverty.

Highlighting these major challenges the report said the systems of production presently used in West Africa are not very efficient and are heavy users of land, animal, and water resources. 'The rise in production required to feed constantly growing population will have obvious disastrous effects on natural resources. It will likely accelerate desertification and climate changes, and compromise sustainable development of the countries'.

'ECOWAP's challenges will be thus to promote systems of production that are not only efficient but also respectful of the environment. These systems should make an effort to draw on the largely under-exploited potential that exists in areas of land management, irrigation, and technological innovation'.

On the other major challenge the report pointed out that the agricultural sector, by employing close to 65% of the sub-region's labour force, functions as a safety valve for the West African economies. [...]"