From 19 to 22 February 2024 in Abuja, ECOWAS, as part of the implementation of the West Africa Food System Resilience Program (FSRP), is inviting members of the national and regional Trade and Market SCORECARD teams, members of the Regional Task Force from the ECOWAS Directorates of Trade, Agriculture, Customs and Free Movement, and their partners to a regional training of trainers workshop on data collection for the Agricultural Trade and Market SCORECARD.
This regional meeting will provide an opportunity to review the methodology and tools for collecting data for the SCORECARD, with a view to deploying it in the countries and facilitating data collection.
“The integration of regional food markets and trade” is a major focus of the FSRP, which aims to facilitate trade of agricultural goods and inputs within and across national borders in West Africa. To achieve this, ECOWAS has developed an analysis tool known as the Agricultural Trade and Market SCORECARD (EATM-SCORECARD). This tool aims to better document intra-regional trade of agri-food products, identify gaps in agri-food trade policies and strengthen the implementation of regional policies by countries (SLEC, ECOWAP/CAADP, ZLECAf, TEC, etc.). The results generated by the SCORECARD should be used by decision-makers to influence policy reforms to promote intra-regional trade and strengthen policy implementation.
After the stage of setting up national and regional teams in 8 FSRP beneficiary countries, the meeting to be held in Abuja is an important step in building the capacities of the trainers who will in turn facilitate the data collection and processing work in the countries with the support of the other team members.
The trainers from AKADEMIYA2063, the organization responsible for supporting ECOWAS in the operationalization of the SCORECARD, will sensitize the national teams and the regional team on the EATM SCORECARD mechanism before focusing on data collection and reporting tools based on the methodological guide for implementing the dashboard. Through inclusive discussions, participants will review the pre-developed model data collection form and the SCORECARD’s electronic platform.
